News
‘Carbohydrate Monotony’ Diet May Ease IBD
Less-developed countries that are adopting a Western-type lifestyle are showing an increase in IBD cases, albeit with a lower incidence. This illustrates the importance of understanding the environmental factors behind IBD. Researchers believe IBD is influenced by genetics, defective immunological responses of the host, problems in the gut’s natural barrier and in its microbiome (the […]
News
More than 100 new gut bacteria discovered in human microbiome
The new resource will enable researchers to identify the bacteria residing in the intestine more accurately and more quickly than has ever been possible before and pave the way for new approaches to treating disorders, infections and immune conditions of the gut. The gut microbiome plays a major role in human health; imbalances in the […]
News
The Wonders of Poop
Before we get started, it’s worth refreshing our understanding of precisely what poop is. Feces are the remains of food that bacteria have fermented in the gut and that the small intestine could not digest or absorb. Poop is mostly water; and, as we all know from experience, the amount of water in each stool […]
News
Diet and Clear-Mindedness Affects Psychosocial Needs in IBD Patients
Among 10 different psychosocial needs, diet and a lack of clear-mindedness were the ones most patients with inflammatory bowel disease felt were affected by their disease, a study reports. The study, “An Exploratory Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and the Psychosocial Factors Affecting Health-Related Quality of Life,” was published in Medical Sciences. Although previous studies have shown that […]
Personal Story
Soul Food: The Ayurvedic Diet and How It Helped Me Manage IBD
When I was 16, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and was prescribed medication to treat it. Even with medication, I dealt with flares that caused severe bleeding, debilitating pain, nausea, vomiting, and muscle cramps, among other symptoms. For three years my mother and I visited one specialist after another on the East Coast searching for answers. When a doctor […]
News
Could pomegranate treat IBD?
Pomegranate could fight the agonising symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), scientists believe. The researchers, at the University of Louisville in Kentucky said their discovery highlights the importance of gut health to protect from IBD. The researchers discovered a metabolite called urolithin A (UroA) is produced as a result of polyphenols in fruits and gut […]
Personal Story
Crohn’s disease sufferer recovering from burst bowel is now a champion weightlifter
Manny Singh Tura, 27, weighing only seven-and-a-half stone (48kg) to begin with, shed three stone (19kg) in just two months after his bowel burst in December 2016. He had a foot-long (30cm) section of his bowel removed and needed an ileostomy bag for months, but has since returned to health and broken a regional weightlifting […]
Research
Cells that destroy the intestine
Chronic inflammatory diseases are caused by a complex mixture of various factors. This leads eventually to the intestine’s immune system becoming over-stimulated, with the resulting inflammation often leading to serious symptoms of disease. The immune system in the intestines includes cells known as tissue resident memory cells, or TRM cells for short. So far, scientists […]
News
Stoma products inspired by body art, tattoos and lingerie
Stephanie Monty, an entrepreneur from the University of Birmingham’s BizzInn business incubator, has been awarded £310k by Innovate UK. Inspired by seeing close family members suffering from the devastating effects of Crohn’s disease, she set up her company, Ostique, to develop a new range of stylish stoma products that are beautiful as well as functional. […]
News
Discovery of bacterial signature of intestinal disease
Enormous numbers of bacteria live in our intestines: they normally cause no disease and they are essential if we are to remain healthy. If the delicate balance of these beneficial bacteria is disturbed through an unhealthy diet or side-effects of medications, the health-promoting functions of the bacteria are disrupted. Without the right interactions between our […]