Inflammatory bowel disease
In medicine, Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the large intestine and, in some cases, the small intestine.The main forms of IBD are:
Although very different diseases, both present with diarrhea, hematochezia, weight loss and various other complaints (arthritis, pyoderma gangrenosum). Diagnosis is generally by colonoscopy with biopsy of pathological lesions.
A potential new treatment
A recent hypothesis posits that some IBD cases are caused by an overactive immune system attacking various tissues of the digestive tract because of the lack of traditional targets such as parasites and worms. The number of people being diagnosed with IBD has increased as the number of infections by parasites, such as roundworms and human whipworms, has fallen, and the condition is still rare in countries where parasitic infections are common. This is similar to the hygiene hypothesis applied to allergies.
One proposed remedy is helminthic therapy -- treatment with live worms. A University of Iowa double-blind crossover study by Dr. Joel Weinstock treated 200 IBS patients (100 with Crohn's and 100 with UC) with a drink containing the microscopic eggs of pig whipwormss (selected because of their short lifespan). A majority of patients who received the worm treatment reported substantial improvement of IBD symptoms. [1], [1]
A report in New Scientist magazine says that the German company BioCure has already applied to the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products for an EU license to sell "TSO" (Trichuris suis ova), a therapeutic drink with whipworm eggs, which would be taken about twice a month. [1]
| Health science - Medicine - Gastroenterology |
| Diseases of the esophagus - stomach |
| Halitosis - Nausea - Vomiting - GERD - Achalasia - Esophageal cancer - Esophageal varices - Peptic ulcer - Abdominal pain - Stomach cancer - functional dyspepsia |
| Diseases of the liver - pancreas - gallbladder - biliary tree |
| Hepatitis - Cirrhosis - NASH - Budd-Chiari syndrome - Hepatocellular carcinoma - Pancreatitis - Pancreatic cancer - Gallstones - Cholecystitis |
| Diseases of the small intestine |
| Peptic ulcer - Malabsorption (e.g. celiac disease, lactose intolerance, fructose malabsorption, Whipple's disease) - Lymphoma |
| Diseases of the colon |
| Diarrhea - Appendicitis - Diverticulitis - Diverticulosis - IBD (Crohn's disease and Ulcerative colitis) - Irritable bowel syndrome - Constipation - Colorectal cancer - Hirschsprung's disease - Pseudomembranous colitis |