freddyj said...
..we all had different conditions, but had same/similar symptoms? I can't help but thinking that this is really a variety of conditions, that manifest in a same-symptom way. Why else would it be so incredibly different with regards to what helps people? There really is so little we have in common in terms of what helps, and what hurts, no?..
worth thinking about
. this has been talked about
a lot here. maybe you missed it because phrases like "phenotypic heterogeneity" were being used, or the discussion was about
the various gene loci involved and the variety of environmental triggers and the individuality of a persons gut microbiotic profile. anyway, others have discussed this idea, and I know I have brought it up in several threads myself.
in this sense every single one of use has a unique sub-type of UC.
it is when the sub-types group by symptoms, or more importantly by response to treatments, that we might get useful categories.
just as pneumonia is fluid in the lungs (usualy caused by infecton, but not always, and usually infection is bacterial, but it can be viral) has different causes, and depending on the kinds of germs involved in infection, may require different kinds of antibiotis/meds to treat .....
.... so UC is an dysregulated immune response in the mucosal lining, characterized by unchecked inflammatory responses, and structural deformities in the crypt cells in the mucosal lining. - BUT it may have been caused by different environmental triggers, interacting with different genetic susceptibilities, and moderated by different gut microbe profiles. .... depending on the persistence of environmental triggers, the particular genetic susceptibilities, and the present condition of the gut microbiota, one or another treatment may be better.
as tools get better to assess individual DNA, and profile gut microbes, more individual (personalized?) medicines will be developed. such is being discussed in the literature as the future of medicine.
but you need to be careful about
saying "different conditions" but "same symptoms". this is likely too simplistic to be useful. for example if there is no water in the lungs, there is no pneumonia, even if there is coughing, mucus, fever, congestion.
with UC there are changes in the crypt cells, and there are a few specific haywire signals in the immune systems regulation of inflammation. it takes more than pain, diarrhea and bleeding to make UC. you can have all of those with c. diff infection and not have UC. You can diarrhea and pain with IBS and not have UC.
this is why I advise the phrase "sub-type" instead of "different conditions". the latter does not acknowledge that IBD is a type distinct from IBS, colon polyps, diverticulitis disease, c. diff infections ... etc.