Adam Scheuer, founder of iHaveUC.com
There has been some pretty impressive news from the scientific world the past few days, and although it doesn’t have “Ulcerative Colitis” in the headlines, I think there’s all sorts of reasons for us to be clapping our hands.
Many different scientists, gut biologists, researchers and several other really smart people have finalized some initial parts of a very large scale study. The study looked at gut bacteria and how it plays a part in Crohn’s disease. And guess what…they have come up with some incredible findings.
Here is a quote from Helio, a gastroenterology site: “Patients with Crohn’s disease experienced abnormal increases and decreases in specific gut bacteria, with harmful microbes flourishing and beneficial microbes missing, according to a recent study.”
Helio also made another comment about the findings of the study which is also a major breakthrough and challenge to what many doctor’s have previously believed: “In addition to identifying the microbial imbalance, the study also indicated using antibiotics to treat symptoms of CD in children before diagnosis could be counterproductive”.
Here are some links to look more into some of the details.
The actual study itself is available for you to read here: Actual Study Link
News Story about the study (not as much detail as main study): News story in basic terms
As many of you know, I’m a big believer (almost 5 years now yikes…) in the role that gut bacteria plays in ulcerative colitis. Heck, there’s thousands of us thinking like this!
So seeing this on the top of my Health section of google news a few days ago was awesome. And receiving emails from so many of you with links to these stories afterwards was awesome as well. Right now is a very exciting time, and the reality is that progress is being made to better understand why and how our colitis symptoms have the tendency to get out of control for what may seem like a complete mystery.
Are we going to start seeing all sorts of new science linking gut bacteria imbalances to UC?
Time will tell, but I sure think there’s a very good chance. If the drug companies can figure out ways to treat or dare I even say “CURE!” UC by getting the gut bacteria in check..well, then I think we will all be reading more stories and studies like the one listed above even sooner.
As much as I bad mouth big pharma companies, I’m thinking that if they came up with some pills, or some super um…probiotics, which western medicine GI docs (just like your doctor!) were sold on by pretty drug reps, well I think I’d maybe even start to like those guys once again.
Until then, let’s all just celebrate some of this incredible news. For many of us its great to be seeing even more evidence that our previous suspicions may very well be correct (about the gut bacteria connection to IBD), for other’s this might be an eye opener. And no matter what, don’t get discouraged if you feel like you are only seeing “Crohn’s” related stories in the news. UC and Crohn’s are similar in so many ways, it’s a win win for all of us.
Have a great week, and congrats to the science that’s taking place.
Adam Scheuer
****** ( IF YOU’D LIKE to watch some videos with a world famous gut biolologist from Stanford University…feel free. I conducted an interview with this awesome genius over three years ago on this exact topic of Gut Bacteria, and you can for sure learn something. Yes the video quality isn’t the finest, but good info either way.) Here’s the link to video #1: https://www.ihaveuc.com/gut-bacteria-part-1/
I started site shortly after being diagnosed in October of 2008 with severe pancolitis (when my whole colon was inflamed).
For me, it was a very rough start with severe symptoms. Getting bounced from medication to medication was not easy or too helpful. But, I did meet another UC’er, changes several parts of my diet, and of course the rest is history.
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