'Why' is a common question to an uncommon event. Why me? Why now? Why digestive disease? Knowing why something happens provides comfort and a sense of order. If I know why something happens, I have the power to remedy it and avoid making choices that lead to a similar outcome, right? Sometimes the search for 'why' in absence of a concrete reason can result in irrational and self defeating rationales. During the worst periods of the colitis chaos, I actually sort of believed that God was punishing me. Jeff, the kids & I had spent Thanksgiving with some old friends in Denver instead of family (yep, got lots of grief from the fam for doing that) and the UC symptoms began shortly after we returned to Cleveland. Fortunately, the rational part of my brain kicked in after weaning off all the crazy drugs, so the thought was rather fleeting. However, I cannot stop wondering about the etiology of IBD's.
Officially, the cause of inflammatory bowel disease, UC and Crohn's, is not known. A vague combination of genetic and environmental factors precipitate the disease, according to doctors and research scientists, but no empirical data have pinpointed any one cause. Diet and stress can make IBD symptoms worse and even trigger a flare up, but, according to the medical community, are not causative factors. Of late, researchers have been exploring theories involving the immune system. Specifically, a bacterium or virus causes the immune system to attack the pathogen, but in genetically predisposed individuals, the immune system continues to go haywire. One doctor explained it to me like this: people with allergies are predisposed to have sensitivities to certain environmental factors, and develop symptoms when exposed to them. Same thing with IBDs. However, no one has identified the responsible gene(s) or environmental factor(s). This explanation from John's Hopkins made the most sense to me: http://www.hopkins-gi.org/GDL_Disease.aspx?CurrentUDV=31&GDL_Cat_ID=83F0F583-EF5A-4A24-A2AF-0392A3900F1D&GDL_Disease_ID=2A4995B2-DFA5-4954-B770-F1F5BAFED033
What IS known and agreed-upon is that IBDs are more prevalent in northern hemisphere industrialized nations, specifically Northern Europe and North America. Research has suggested that the occurrence of IBD's is rising in lower incidence areas. Some researchers argue that as western influences infiltrate eastern and third world countries, and as more people from non-westernized countries move to industrialized nations, IBD cases with this group of people increase dramatically. So of course, there are a number of (unproven) theories floating around: vitamin D deficiencies, increased stress, reliance on processed and genetically modified foods, lactose intolerance, administration of hormones and antibiotics in livestock and probably others I haven't run across.
My personal theory is that food DOES have something to do with the development of digestive disease. Digestive disease incident rates have increased over the years http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090210133922.htm while major agribusiness companies like Monsanto, BASF, etc. started introducing genetically modified, weed/insect resistant seeds in the mid-1990's. http://www.globalresearch.ca/gmo-scandal-the-long-term-effects-of-genetically-modified-food-on-humans/ Meat producers have been giving antibiotics and hormones to their livestock for years http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/safe/overview.html.
An interesting phenomena I have noticed while creeping on IBD websites and chatrooms is that anecdotally, many IBD patients report a decrease in symptoms while adhering to non-dairy, non-grain, low sugar diets that are vegetarian or include grass vs. grain-fed poultry and meats. (There have been no large-scale studies looking at curative factors in these types of diets that I know of because who would fund them? Agribusiness & drug companies could, but have obvious conflicts of interest). So, perhaps genetically predisposed individuals might be more sensitive to processed foods that contain these chemically altered ingredients which, over time, might build up enough in the gut to cause a flare.
The bottom line is, nobody knows for sure. However, since I became sick, my stock of processed foods has dwindled dramatically and the meat I buy is free-range and/or grass-fed. I'm not taking any chances with my kids!!!!
