Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Recently Answered

• QDoes inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) increase my risk of colon cancer?

  4 Answers

  A

  

  A NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital answered

  Inflammatory bowel disease is associated with an increased lifetime risk for colorectal cancer.

  Over time, the inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract can lead to abnormal changes in the cells called dysplasia, which are a warning sign of cancer.

  While the majority of patients with IBD will never develop colorectal cancer, it is important to attend your regular checkups so that your doctor can screen for cancer.

  See All 4 Answers
• QCan inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) be cured?

  2 Answers

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic condition. Unfortunately, there's currently no cure, so medications and monitoring are needed in the long term. Healthcare maintenance to make sure the rest of your body is in good health is very important as part of the management of inflammatory bowel disease.

  See All 2 Answers
• QHow is inflammatory bowel disease (IDB) treated in children?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A Dr. Valentine Enemuo, MD , Pediatric Gastroenterology, answered on behalf of Overland Park Regional Medical Center

  Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children is treated by diet and medications. If the child doesn’t respond to medical and nutritional therapy, sometimes IBD is treated by surgical intervention.

• QHow is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) diagnosed in children?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A Dr. Valentine Enemuo, MD , Pediatric Gastroenterology, answered on behalf of Overland Park Regional Medical Center

  Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is diagnosed in children by compiling a thorough history of the condition, physical examination, blood test, stool test, imaging and endoscopic procedures.

• QCan inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affect other parts of my body?

  2 Answers

  A

  

  A Riverside Health System answered

  Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can cause a number of problems outside of the digestive tract.

  • Anemia: red blood cells, which carry oxygen to organs, is below normal. This can make a person feel very tired.
  • Arthritis and joint pain
  • Weak bones and bone breaks
  • Inflammation in the eye and other eye problems
  • Liver inflammation
  • Gallstones
  • Red bumps or ulcers on the skin
  • Kidney stones
  • Delayed puberty and growth problems (in children and teens)
  • In rare cases, lung problems

  Some of these problems are caused by poor absorption of nutrients. Others are due to inflammation in parts of the body other than the digestive tract.

  Inflammatory bowel disease, as well as the surgery and medicines used to treat it, can also affect your sex life. Sometimes, you may just feel too tired to have sex. You may also have emotional issues related to the disease. Even though it may be embarrassing, it is important to talk to your doctor if you are having sexual problems.

  Some women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) feel worse right before and during their menstrual periods as well. Diarrhea, abdominal pain, and other symptoms can be more severe during these times. Women with IBD and their doctors should keep track of these monthly changes in symptoms. This will prevent over treating the disease.

  This answer is based on source information from the National Women's Health Information Center.

  See All 2 Answers
• QWhy is endoscopy important in the management of inflammatory bowel disease?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  Endoscopy is very important for the diagnosis and management of inflammatory bowel disease. In terms of ulcerative colitis, doctors will look for endoscopic degrees of disease activity, which can range from mild to severe. For Crohn's disease, doctors will try to see if there are any of the ulcers that are very typical in Crohn's disease, or others that have a feature called cobblestoning. An endoscopy may also reveal areas of narrowing in the bowel. There may be the need for surgery in the future depending on how tight and how severe these are. An endoscopy will also show any prior history of surgery.
• QWhy are blood tests done for inflammatory bowel disease?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  Some blood tests are required to help doctors assess how active your inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis) is. First is a complete blood count, which will indicate if you are anemic or if your blood counts are low. Further, the elevation of platelets and other markers of inflammation can allow your doctor to gauge how severe your disease is.
  
  Your metabolic panel will be assessed to see if you're dehydrated. Are your electrolytes normal? Are there any liver abnormalities? Particularly, these are things that doctors will monitor while you're on certain types of therapies for Crohn's disease.
   
  If you've had certain bowel resections or if you're very malnourished, your doctor will want to make sure that you're not running low on certain vitamins and nutrients, such as B12, iron and vitamin D.
• QCan inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) be treated by diet alone?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  A lot of people want to try to treat their inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with diet alone. It is important to note that diet has not been implicated as a cause for IBD with the exception of possibly high-fat animal proteins. IBD is not related to food allergies, and there are no specific foods that have been identified that worsen the actual disease once you have been diagnosed.
  
  As of yet, there is no IBD-specific diet that helps to treat inflammation. A lot of different theories are out there, and many different diets have been tried. However, a lot of the time, those diets lead to malnutrition and eventually a worsening of disease activity. Nevertheless, diet is important in the management of IBD because the most important aspect is to maintain adequate caloric intake and hydration. Malnutrition is associated with worse outcomes, including more infections and more hospitalizations.
• QWhat triggers inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) flares?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  Some of the triggers for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) flares may be infection, such as viral gastroenteritis or food poisoning. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen, Aleve and naproxen, can cause ulcers anywhere throughout the gastrointestinal tract, so they may also increase IBD flares. Stress may also be associated with the flaring of your disease. Some people think that changes in seasonality may increase your risk, but most importantly, your risk of flaring is greatest if you don't adhere to your medication regimen. Medications don't work if you don't take them, so if medications got you better, you need to continue taking them, or else there's a higher likelihood that your symptoms will flare.
• QHow can I change my diet when I have active inflammatory bowel disease?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  You can modify your diet when you are having active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by eating small, frequent meals instead of large meals. Reduced fatty food consumption is important because rich, fatty foods can sometimes cause problems with gastrointestinal tract motility (movement). You may want to avoid milk products, particularly if you feel as though you're lactose intolerant. Also, certain types of tough fibers are harder to digest and may cause more spasticity, cramping and gas in your colon and small bowel. Therefore, you may want to decrease your fiber intake.
  
  The diet that doctors usually recommend is a low-residue (low-fiber) diet, particularly if you’re prone to symptoms of obstruction.