What is inflammatory bowel disease and what symptoms does it present?
Inflammatory bowel disease is not really a disease, it is a group of diseases. It is a group of diseases that, at the moment, we have them in the same chapter of a book. But they are very varied diseases. Time will tell us that they are probably different things. But as of today we know that they are inflammations of an unknown nature that affect the digestive tract, specifically the digestive tract, from the mouth to the anus, in Crohn’s disease, or precisely the colon in ulcerative colitis. These diseases are manifested by a wide variety of symptoms, but predominantly diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, weight loss. Although there are patients with different symptomatology. There are cases of ulcerative colitis with constipation, fistulas in Crohn’s disease, there are joint problems, there are dermatological problems, there is a wide range of symptoms that can lead to the onset of this type of disease.
What is the treatment?
Regarding the treatment of inflammatory disease, I always tell my patients that it is like a pulse against inflammation. There are patients that we need to give less anti-inflammatory drugs, and there are patients that we need to give more anti-inflammatory potency. That’s where we put immunosuppressants, biologic drugs. Not all patients need such a complex treatment, we should not dramatize so much, it is the tip of the iceberg. There are patients who are easily controlled with probiotics or milder medications, or even with simpler dietary adjustments. I believe that each case is different and it is advisable to discuss it with your doctor, with your referral specialist so that he/she can advise you.
Is it curable or is it a chronic disease?
Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a chronic disease, but it is not that the patient is always ill but that he/she has the tendency to relapse at any time. There are patients who can have a flare-up of ulcerative colitis once in their life and never get sick again. And there are other patients with Crohn’s disease who are permanently active if we do not treat them. Let’s say that it is an inflammation maintained over time because not knowing the cause that provokes it, we cannot cure it definitively until this moment.
What type of diet is recommended or what foods should we avoid?
With regard to diet, at this time there is no evidence that any specific food causes a reactivation or aggravation of the inflammatory disease, ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease. But there are a number of dietary recommendations, specifically in the form of reducing high-fiber foods in times of flare-ups, diarrhea. I particularly also in Crohn’s disease, in some types of Crohn’s disease, I recommend removing milk. But this is a personal opinion that I will be able to comment on in more depth someday.