Causes Crohns Disease:
Theories on the Causes of Crohns Disease
What causes Crohns disease is a hotly debated and controversial topic.
Several theories abound about the causes of Crohns disease.
- Some say it's a disease caused by the body's own immune system, while others feel it's a genetic and hereditary issue.
- Others feel that dietary habits and poor nutrition actually cause this disease, while many more point to bacteria and fungus as being the cause.
Let's look at each theory more closely.
Crohns disease sufferers often have severe vitamin and nutrition deficiencies.
Some experts feel this is a side effect of the disease itself, because the inflamed intestinal walls prevent proper absorption of vitamins and minerals from foods eaten. Compounded by the frequent emptying of the intestine, there isn't much time for the body to actually absorb nutrition available from foods and drinks.
Other experts, however, feel that Crohns disease might actually be caused by a lack of proper nutrition.
Some studies show that many people diagnosed with Crohns disease have diets high in sugars and simple starches, yet low in fiber, vitamins and other essential nutrients.
Diets high in fiber are known to be beneficial to our digestive system, and not eating enough fiber can cause digestive related problems such as constipation, hemorrhoids, liver or gall bladder problems, and more.
Many natural remedy practitioners feel that an unhealthy colon will actually cause common skin conditions and problems too, such as Psoriasis.
A modern day American diet is not nearly as high in vitamins and nutrients as it needs to be.
People don't eat enough simple things such as raw fruits and vegetables, and they opt for quick microwave or fast food meals instead of the more nutritious home cooked foods.
The genetic and hereditary theories are based on the fact that roughly 20% of people with Crohns disease have a blood relative who also has some sort of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The counter-argument to this is that since most of those cases involve siblings, the problem could very well be caused by eating and dietary habits instilled in the family as they were growing up.
The immune system is another culprit blamed by some experts, and this theory is controversial as well.
Common medical treatments for Crohns disease includes the use of drugs which will suppress the body's immune system.
To make things even more complicated, some studies have shown that a weak immune system could actually be the cause of Crohns disease. And by boosting that immune system, the studies showed significant improvements in the Crohns disease patients.
The most promising studies on the causes of Crohns disease point to a potential link between fungus bacteria known as Candida.
Crohns disease patients are known to have an overabundance of yeast-causing bacteria in their system, and some studies have even shown that various IBDs have occurred in children and adults who recently underwent heavy prescription antibiotic use for another infection.
Antibiotics are well known to be a common cause of a multitude of various yeast infections, because they kill all the friendly flora in the body, which gives the Candida bacteria room to flourish.
So, due to the wide variety of beliefs and theories about the causes of Crohns disease, one individual's treatment may vary from anothers based on what they personally believe, or what their chosen primary care provider believes.
Please click here to read our next article about Candida and crohns disease.
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