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WHAT CAUSES ULCERATIVE COLITIS IN CHILDREN?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/9/2013 10:55 PM (GMT 0)
My friend's daughter is 15 and has ulcerative colitis since she was 11.   It is a mild case but still  annoying.  What exactly causes U.C?  Does anybody know yet?

What does " auto immune" mean?

thanks

Posted 12/10/2013 12:57 AM (GMT 0)
The immune system is the part(s) of your body that protect you from invaders. Autoimmune disease is when the immune system seems to attack the body itself for unknown reasons.

Children do get UC. I'm sorry your friend has this but I'm glad it's only a mild case.
Posted 12/10/2013 1:17 AM (GMT 0)
I hate of hearing children that get diagnosed with this condition. The "whys" are not clear yet. For adults, we can say that it was overusage of antibitoics, Nsaids etc. But babies get diagnosed with it so that doesn't apply to them. So perhaps theirs is genetic. They're are just too many variables with Uc to distinguish why it gets triggered. Some researchers have found a defective gene in IBD'ers a few years back but I haven't heard anything more about it.
Posted 12/10/2013 1:36 AM (GMT 0)
satan -
Posted 12/10/2013 1:58 AM (GMT 0)
Anything that disrupts the gut bacteria will do the trick generally. These include antibiotics, infant baby formulas ridden with allergens (I'm looking at you enfamil!), c-section, lack of breast feeding.

Genetic susceptibility plays a minor role, but we are beginning to see UC incidence in those with no family history of it.
Posted 12/10/2013 5:45 AM (GMT 0)
Pathogens or dysbiosis. I think we often dont run enough tests. Doctors run panels often.. worthless panels that we dont need to run so often, but not enough things like tests for lyme or epstein barr..mycoplasma pneumonia.. yeast. YEAST. this is so huge.

Here's the scenario

Kiddo gets ear aches when he is a baby. Screams bloody murder so good mama and dada go to urgent care. and the doctor prescribes antibiotics. Problem is, baby has very little gut flora.

This cycle happens again a couple years later with strep.. more abx.. but this time kiddo is swapping spit with susy and picks up mono. Mono is a virus. Abx dont work on viruses.

on top of it, johnny now has "allergies" and re occuring sinus infections.

Jonny hits 16 and his skin is horrible, its killing his self esteem and they have tried everything!! (Even Adam Levine's Proactiv) so they do some long term abx... and

BAM. UC. One of the yeasts, parastites, pathogens, bacteria, etc has gotten grossly out of balance. But now it's pretty resistant to alot of crap and it has adapted to your diet. infact, if you believe some of the science, you eat what you eat because of your gut flora. It drives your tastes.

There are so many different paths to UC tho.. but I think the important thing is that I really do believe you can achieve remission and healing.
Posted 12/10/2013 3:19 PM (GMT 0)
PK, That pretty much sums up how I think my son developed UC except he had way more abx early on and was diagnosed at 7 year old. He suffered from constipation for two years prior to dx; a sure sign of dysbiosis.
Posted 12/10/2013 4:05 PM (GMT 0)
Edbar, How is he doing now? I havent caught up with you in awhile :)
Posted 12/10/2013 4:25 PM (GMT 0)

He's doing very well right now. Thanks for asking and thanks for your help!

It's great to enjoy some respite from this disease.

Hope you're still doing well.

Posted 12/10/2013 5:54 PM (GMT 0)
Im so so glad. What do you think the key has been to his improvement? I know you have done many things to help your son! It's been so wonderful to hear of his progress. Happy holidays!
Posted 12/10/2013 6:50 PM (GMT 0)
Many cases it's genetics. IBD tends to run in families. There isn't just one cause or reason. Trying to make rhyme or reason of UC is still a work in progress.
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