3 ms·

I have ulcerative colitis, which is a disease that falls under the category of IBD. My story is similar to many other IBD testimonials. I was a perfectly health

I have ulcerative colitis, which is a disease that falls under the category of IBD. My story is similar to many other IBD testimonials. I was a perfectly healthy young individual who contracted a severe infection that landed me in the hospital. I was treated with antibiotics and steroids, and made a full recovery. After a follow up colonoscopy, I was diagnosed with IBD. I had an idea, albeit without any real proof, that my disease was onset by my infection by somehow "reprogramming" my immune system. This was how I rationalised going from a healthy to diseased status so rapidly. That idea trivialises much of what goes on behind the scenes in our bodies, but it seems to be more or less what this research is pointing towards.

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DennisP 8y ago
Based on a quick check at Mayo Clinic, it appears that IBD can be an autoimmune problem, but isn't necessarily. Another possibility is that antibiotics took out some important species of your gut bacteria. Based on other things I've seen, it seems possible that a fecal transplant could restore them if that's the case. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20360016 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/irritable-bow...
- pseudosudoer 8y ago
  Mayoclinic isn't really a cite-able source, but I agree on the rhetoric that antibiotics can cause a microbe imbalance. Unfortunately there hasn't been any research (that I have seen) that has found a causation between Ulcertive Colitis and the microbiome of the colon. There is definitely a correlation between gut health and it's microbiome ([research paper][https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5757125/] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5757125/]), but it doesn't seem to bear causation for the underlying disease. Autoimmune diseases (and the immune system as a whole) are still a mystery to doctors/researchers, so the best approach we have to treating it is empirical instead of deterministic. The stem cell article is the type of research that I hope for, as it attempts to permeate the opaqueness of such a system.

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DennisP 8y ago

Based on a quick check at Mayo Clinic, it appears that IBD can be an autoimmune problem, but isn't necessarily. Another possibility is that antibiotics took out some important species of your gut bacteria. Based on other things I've seen, it seems possible that a fecal transplant could restore them if that's the case. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20360016 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/irritable-bow...

pseudosudoer 8y ago
Mayoclinic isn't really a cite-able source, but I agree on the rhetoric that antibiotics can cause a microbe imbalance. Unfortunately there hasn't been any research (that I have seen) that has found a causation between Ulcertive Colitis and the microbiome of the colon. There is definitely a correlation between gut health and it's microbiome ([research paper][https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5757125/] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5757125/]), but it doesn't seem to bear causation for the underlying disease. Autoimmune diseases (and the immune system as a whole) are still a mystery to doctors/researchers, so the best approach we have to treating it is empirical instead of deterministic. The stem cell article is the type of research that I hope for, as it attempts to permeate the opaqueness of such a system.