Are air pollutants linked to bowel disease risk? IBD & Crohn's

[Guest guest]

Are air pollutants linked to bowel disease risk?

<http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6685F920100709>

Young people who live in areas with higher levels of certain air

pollutants may be more likely to have inflammatory bowel disease than

those living under clearer skies, a new study suggests.

Specifically, people age 23 or younger were about twice as likely to be

diagnosed with Crohn's disease if they lived in a region relatively high

nitrogen dioxide levels.

The findings, reported in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, do

not prove that air pollution is a contributor to inflammatory bowel

disease (IBD), the major forms of which are Crohn's disease and

ulcerative colitis. In the U.S., Crohn's affects about one in 600 people

in the US, and ulcerative colitis affects about one in 400, according to

the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases....

It is known that IBD rates rose during the 20th century in

industrialized countries, and that rates appear to be increasing in

developing nations. Such patterns suggest that factors such as diet and

lifestyle changes, or environmental exposures, could be involved....

~Reuters

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1. The Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Ambient Air Pollution: A Novel

Association. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20588264>

Kaplan GG, Hubbard J, Korzenik J, Sands BE, Panaccione R, Ghosh S,

Wheeler AJ, Villeneuve PJ.

Am J Gastroenterol. 2010 Jun 29.

2. Environmental risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease.

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20567592>

Molodecky NA, Kaplan GG.

Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2010 May;6(5):339-46.