Highly sophisticated pharmaceuticals can put out the fire only temporarily. It keeps smouldering and the gut succumbs to inflammation again and again. Without medical treatment, the intestinal wall would be virtually destroyed. If the patient is not treated competently, his or her life can even be in danger.
Currently, the doctors can only mitigate the patient’s suffering.
Through funding dedicated to internationally renowned Crohn's and colitis research in Germany, the foundation wants to reach farther: it wants to be able to cure inflammatory bowel disease.
When the immune system surrenders to civilisation
Continuous diarrhoea, unbearable stomach pain, total exhaustion: these are the symptoms when the digestive tract becomes inflamed. The pain starts without warning, it gets steadily worse and does not cease without the latest state-of-the-art medicine. "It's like a never-ending fire in your gut", describes a Crohn's patient.
The Inferno in the Gut
Crohn's disease is the inflammation of the entire digestive tract from mouth to anus, though the inflammation mostly manifests itself in the small intestine. Usually, Crohn’s disease is discontiguous : healthy sections alternate with inflamed ones . In the inflamed regions, all layers of the intestine are afflicted. Abcesses can form, or the inflammation spreads into the neighbouring tissue through fistulas.
With ulcerative colitis, the inflammation is limited to the area of the colon, which is inflamed throughout.
With ulcerative colitis, the inflammation is limited to the area of the colon, which is inflamed throughout.
The Rebellion against 'civilised' Conditions
The inflammation of the gut is so devastating because this organ houses three quarters of the human immune cells, it is virtually the headquarters of the body’s immune system.
Until the middle of the 20th century, these diseases were almost never seen. For centuries, the finely balanced defence mechanisms of the human body had always reliably protected the digestive tract of Homo sapiens against all attacks. Then this suddenly changed – a decisive moment that goes together with the progress of the western affluent society's lifestyle: the consumption of industrially produced food, the increasing exposition to environmental toxins and the "civilised" daily life with a lot of stress and a minimum of physical activity.
It is vital to discover which of these factors is responsible for the outbreak of IBD to what extent in order to cure Crohn's disease and colitis.
Until the middle of the 20th century, these diseases were almost never seen. For centuries, the finely balanced defence mechanisms of the human body had always reliably protected the digestive tract of Homo sapiens against all attacks. Then this suddenly changed – a decisive moment that goes together with the progress of the western affluent society's lifestyle: the consumption of industrially produced food, the increasing exposition to environmental toxins and the "civilised" daily life with a lot of stress and a minimum of physical activity.
It is vital to discover which of these factors is responsible for the outbreak of IBD to what extent in order to cure Crohn's disease and colitis.
Genetic Disposition
The genetic make-up has to be taken into account as well. The internationally renowned gastroenterologist and chair of the foundation board of the Bowel Disease Foundation Stefan Schreiber was the first to identify disease genes for chronic inflammation of the gut in 2001 - a milestone for inflammation research. But genetic disposition alone does not explain the dramatic inflammation processes. The Environment, genetics and their interaction seem to be jointly responsible for this complex phenomenon.
Balance out of kilter
What probably happens is that the immune system desperately tries to prevent harmful bacteria from the gut getting into the bloodstream. Scientists speak of a "barrier dysfunction of the mucous membrane. It is noticeable that in Crohn's and colitis patients the composition of the bacteria, several kilograms of which are found in the gut, is considerably altered in contrast to healthy people: certain bacteria species, which disproportionately multiply, may attempt to create new habitats outside the intestinal wall. Add civilisational factors such as wrong nutrition, lack of physical activity, environmental toxins, stress - "and the gut tips over like a sewage treatment plant and mobilises the entire immune defence system", explains Stefan Schreiber. The result: a never-ending inflammation.
