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Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a collection of long-term conditions that affect the intestines and cause inflammation. The two main types of IBD are ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Inflammatory bowel diseases are typically lifelong and have periods of flare and remission.What is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)?

Between 2.4 and 3.1 billion people in the US have inflammatory bowel disease, according to the CDC. The disease is lifelong and has no cure. 

What is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)?

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an umbrella term that covers diseases affecting the intestines. There are a few different diseases that fall under this category, but the main two types of IBD are ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Other types of IBD include:

  • Indeterminate colitis
  • Lymphocytic colitis
  • Collagenous colitis
  • Crohn’s colitis

IBD is an autoimmune condition. The immune system attacks healthy cells in the intestine. As with other autoimmune disorders, it has genetic factors and is set off by a trigger event like emotional trauma or a virus.

Risk factors of ulcerative colitis include:

  • Between the ages of 15-30 or 60 and older, when symptoms arise
  • Jewish descent
  • Genetics
  • Microbiome disruption

Risk factors of Crohn’s disease include:

  • Genetics
  • Smoking
  • High-fat diets
  • Certain medications have been linked to a risk (birth control, NSAIDs, antibiotics, etc.)
  • Microbiome disruption

The differences between UC and Crohn’s disease are how they affect the intestines. Ulcerative colitis only affects the colon. It affects the mucosa and sometimes the submucosa. However, it stays in the colon, and the tissues affected are always next to each other.  

Crohn’s, on the other hand, affects any part of the intestinal tract, including all layers. It affects the intestinal tissue in patches. You can have multiple areas that are inflamed, separated by healthy tissue. 

IBD Symptoms

Although IBD is split into different diagnoses, the symptoms are very similar. The differences will be noted when doctors begin running tests to see which areas of the intestinal tract are affected, not necessarily by the symptoms themselves. 

Symptoms of IBD are similar to symptoms of other GI conditions and can be misdiagnosed at first, leading to difficulty in disease management. Gastrointestinal symptoms of IBD include:

  • Abdominal pain and cramping
  • Bloody stool
  • Diarrhea (often mucousy or bloody)
  • Constipation (mostly with UC)
  • Nausea and vomiting (mostly with Crohn’s)
  • Severe urgency to use the bathroom, sometimes to the point of incontinence
  • Feeling like you need to have a bowel movement when you don’t have to, or like you haven’t completely emptied your bowels, but still feeling like you need to go

Extraintestinal symptoms of IBD:

If you’re experiencing any of these problems, especially a combination of them, you should talk to your doctor immediately. Leaving IBD untreated can lead to many other and more serious complications, like:

  • Hemorrhage
  • Anal fistulas
  • Strictures
  • Colon perforation
  • Abscesses
  • Toxic megacolon
  • Colon cancer
  • Osteoporosis
  • Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
  • Anemia
  • Gallstones
  • Arthritis
  • Ulcers
  • Dehydration

Your doctor, once you have a diagnosis, can help you get your symptoms under control so you can be in remission. 

IBD Treatment Options

Since it can be dangerous to go without treating IBD, choosing a treatment option that you feel comfortable with is extremely important. 

There are multiple medications that are used for IBD. Most of them deal with calming inflammation and suppressing the immune reaction so your body can go back to remission. Some of the common medications used include:

  • Aminosalicylates
  • Mesalamine 
  • Oral glucocorticoids
  • Infliximab 
  • Anti-TNF agents
  • Corticosteroid therapies
  • Oral budesonide  
  • 6-mercaptopurine
  • Azathioprine
  • Methotrexate

If medications are not enough, then surgeries may be needed. Portions of the colon may need to be removed and replaced with stool removal alternatives.

Dysbiosis is a common issue related to IBD. While it is unknown if dysbiosis is a symptom or part of the cause of disease onset, they do affect each other for better or worse. While this research is still in its infancy, fecal microbial transplants (FMT) seem to be a potential treatment route. 

Two studies found that FMT was beneficial for UC patients. It helped to improve microbial diversity and, in most cases, help patients achieve remission. One of the studies did find that the microbes in the transplant mattered in whether patients achieved remission. This indicated that donors may need to be paired depending on what microbial strains are in both the donor and receiver’s microbiomes. 

Living with IBD

While living with IBD sounds daunting, working closely with your practitioner can help you manage symptoms, flares, and keep your peace. Some lifestyle changes you can make that can help reduce the frequency of flare-ups include: 

  • Stress management. Stress can exacerbate any health condition. Stress has been closely linked to GI disorders across the board, and IBD is no different. Managing your stress levels can reduce dysbiosis and inflammation and improve your ability to manage symptoms more easily.
  • Monitor your diet. Keeping a food journal can help you figure out what foods may cause reactions. If you have certain food allergies or sensitivities, reducing those foods may help to manage your IBD symptoms and flares. In addition, try to eat whole, healthy foods and limit highly processed foods. The fewer ingredients in a food, the fewer things you have to react to.
  • Stay on a healthy sleep/wake schedule. Your circadian rhythms affect way more than you realize. Your ability to manage stress, avoid cravings, and keep a positive outlook can all be improved by staying on a healthy sleeping and waking schedule.
  • Stick with the treatments your doctor suggests. If you find it difficult to remember to take medications daily, make sure you bring this up to your doctor. Any way that you can get derailed from your treatment plan is setting you up for pain and problems, so make sure you bring up any concerns you have to your doctor so you’re able to pick a health plan that will actually work for you.
  • Keep doing things that make you happy. This can include dancing, exercising, spending time with people you love, writing stories, singing songs, gardening, volunteering, or painting pictures. Having hobbies that make you happy and get you out with other people has a positive impact on your health, and while they aren’t directly connected to your symptom management, they can help significantly. 

Talk to your doctor about adding Atrantil to your regimen as well. Atrantil has prebiotics, polyphenols, and postbiotics that can help regulate your gut microbiome and fight dysbiosis. If you want Atrantil with probiotics, have your doctor check into AtrantilPRO for you — this one is prescription only to make sure the probiotics are the right kind for your body so you don’t end up with complications if you are immunocompromised.

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