Do you believe crohn's is purely genetic?

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Gianni said:
Do you think Crohn's is only caused because of genetics?

Do you think if you carried the gene you could have done anything to avoid manifesting the disease? Or do you think it is left up to chance?

Gianni
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I was watching Doctor OZ one day and someone said they had Crohns. He said no doubt they will have a cure done in his lifetime for this disease. He also said people need to let out all their anger or pain for this disease because it can build up over time.

I think Crohns is just another disease that comes from the family of inflammation diseases. I am talking about Psoriasis (skin flakes), Asthma (inflammation of lungs), MS (inflammation bones) and all the other inflammation diseases.

I find it weird that most crohns diseases take place in the North and not South where its hot out. I also think Crohns could be a micro organism found in tap water that our immune system wont give up attacking all over our body.

In the end I dont think its genetic.
 
Crabby said:
When I eat raw leafy vegetables they come out as raw leafy vegetables. You could make a salad out of it all over again. :p It does bring on diarrhea not only in me but for many people on the forum. Fiber is a natural diuretic so yes it will cause diarrhea in MANY.
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Same for me goes in green leaf comes out green leaf they can sometimes get hung up on my rectal fissure as did kidney beans nothing worse the picking food out of your ass, just nasty! Love Spinach and greens but they are not a friendly food at this time as they also give me the extra bathroom runs.

As far as Genetics there is no one in my family that I am aware of that has Crohn's, However my aunt on my dads side has Ulcered Colitis. My family's pretty dysfunctional I don't even talk to most of them so who knows. I do not believe that I am genetically related to anyone of Jewish decent though that I'm almost sure of but then again who knows.
 
Aloe Vera & Diet

I thought I should enter this thread even though it is an older one. I have had crohns since a child. The worst symptoms did not come till I was about 23 yrs old. Possibly because my parents juiced different veggies and fruits, ate turmeric in their foods regularly & always cooked traditional homemade dishes.
Being diagnosed in 1991 after a major flareup that caused severe pain for two days. This was after drinking lots of soda. I dont drink soda anymore.
In my case diet or being very selective on what I eat & Aloe Vera, has kept me off medications since 1991. I tried the meds for a few months & did not like the side effects while working on dangerous equiptment.

The most important aspect of my Crohns treatment has been ALOE Vera Juice. Recently I had to go back to buying the bottled juice because of the convenience to be able to take it anytime. I used to use the fresh leaf. Within 3 days of ingesting the Aloe the dull ache on my lower right abdomen started to subside. I had this ache for months on and off. Now its been 1 month of drinking Aloe juice 3 times every day & the ache has gone away. I noticed that some Aloe Gel products use Carageenan, so I avoid them.
It has been over 20 yrs since I have been using Aloe & must say it still remains the most important treatment for Crohns along with Diet. I also do not drink coffee or store bought orange juice or milk since they have caused flareups. The food or nutritional approach is not difficult to understand after you get very sick for days, after eating something.
 
Hi Avery,

I have tried aloe vera juice in the past. The one reason I stopped was I just could not handle the taste, it is sooo awful tasting. Which kind do you take, what brand? Does it have that awful taste? I would like to start taking it again, I mean I do hear a lot of good things about it. I never took the capsules as I heard the juice is the best...






Avery said:
I thought I should enter this thread even though it is an older one. I have had crohns since a child. The worst symptoms did not come till I was about 23 yrs old. Possibly because my parents juiced different veggies and fruits, ate turmeric in their foods regularly & always cooked traditional homemade dishes.
Being diagnosed in 1991 after a major flareup that caused severe pain for two days. This was after drinking lots of soda. I dont drink soda anymore.
In my case diet or being very selective on what I eat & Aloe Vera, has kept me off medications since 1991. I tried the meds for a few months & did not like the side effects while working on dangerous equiptment.

The most important aspect of my Crohns treatment has been ALOE Vera Juice. Recently I had to go back to buying the bottled juice because of the convenience to be able to take it anytime. I used to use the fresh leaf. Within 3 days of ingesting the Aloe the dull ache on my lower right abdomen started to subside. I had this ache for months on and off. Now its been 1 month of drinking Aloe juice 3 times every day & the ache has gone away. I noticed that some Aloe Gel products use Carageenan, so I avoid them.
It has been over 20 yrs since I have been using Aloe & must say it still remains the most important treatment for Crohns along with Diet. I also do not drink coffee or store bought orange juice or milk since they have caused flareups. The food or nutritional approach is not difficult to understand after you get very sick for days, after eating something.
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IHURT,
I look for a product that has 99% aloe & no water. I recently started out with GNC brand Aloe juice for about $12 a quart. Then I found online at vitamin shoppe, "Lily of the Desert" Aloe Vera Whole Leaf Juice or inner fillet, for $20 a gallon. It seem to be of a similar quality as the GNC.
The taste of any Aloe Juice is a little sourish or tangy, because they use ascorbic acid as a preservative. Some people have mixed it with any type of real fruit juice to make it more palatable. Overall the benefits with no side-effects out-weight the tangy taste. I just look at it as my medicine, so I have accepted the tangy taste & just drink it straight. You will notice a difference in your bowel movements & after a while there will be less & eventually no blood via fissures etc. It is VERY IMPORTANT to drink it every day. I drink a half cup 2-3 times a day.
But you must avoid foods & drinks that cause you to have problems. It takes some time to figure out what to stay away from. Maybe you have done so already.
 
Avery,

Thanks for the info. I will probably give the aloe another try. I actaully did mix it in with some apple juice back when I was taking it, but it still tasted pretty bad. Wow, 1/2 cup three times a day, that does not give you the runs? I know aloe vera has laxative effects. I would probably work my way up on it.

As far as diet, I have eliminated soo many things already. I mean my diet is pretty bland. I do not eat dairy, no red meat( I only eat organic chicken or turkey, or fish). The only fruit I eat is avacado. It seems even when I am eating bland I still have the intestinal pain and issues. I am not sure why. I am still trying to get a diagnosis.

Thanks for the info, I will give the aloe another go.....
 
IHURT,
I have had similar issues with the pain over the years. But Aloe vera has polysaccharides that somehow help with the digestive process, and it must also aid in the intestines to heal up after they become inflammed, causing scarring, etc. It is known to help a skin burn or scar heal up well.
I eat the same as you listed (no red meat), along with an apple 2-3 times wk. and green vegetables, like kale, chard, etc. Its very difficult sometimes to adhere all the time. I enjoy eating Fuerte avocados when in season. But I have had issues last year, after eating Hass & Reed avocadoes, they seem to be more oily & I felt full after eating. I actually had pain that started to build up afterwards, so I have stopped eating those varieties for now. But at that time I had not started back on the Aloe juice again & was having the ache that I mentioned above. It might be something to consider, even though avocado has healthy oils. The fuerte has less oils has a little more water.
I must give you & others like Gianni credit for trying to include the nutritional aspect as a way to make this disease less impacting on our lives. Gianni does offer some very good information.
 
Avery

Thanks for the tip on the fuerte avacados, that is good to know! Yeah, I have been eating the Hass ones so maybe they do contain too much oils. I mean I try so hard with my diet but it seems like everything bothers me no matter what, it is so frustrating. I eat as organic as possible as well. Diet definitely plays a role in any digestive disease in my opinion.

Jemma2013: What do you believe set off your crohns? Were you on any antibiotics before hand or did you have any illness??
 
Didn't read all replies but identical twins have a less than 50% chance to both develop crohn's disease.

Compare that to huntington's disease where you can determine at birth if someone is going to get the disease since it's purely related to genetic makeup.

What's even more interesting is that those twins that do both develop crohn's disease often have crohn's disease in different areas. Even more interesting is that it's known that twins that live together or even children that live together (non-twins) have a high chance of both developing crohn's disease compared to ones that live in different areas in seperation.

So you can start to wonder how important the fact they had identical genes was, the already low chance of identical twins both getting crohn's disease becomes even less certain if you account for the higher chance of developing crohn's disease if you live under the same roof.


Another point to make is that even the most common gene mutations associated with crohn's disease, NOD2, ATG16L1 and IL23R are only present in a very small number of people with crohn's disease (I believe single digit percentage). Interestingly the NOD2 gene mutation isn't a determining factor in Asia, they can not associate NOD2 with crohn's disease in Asia.

Also, there are many people in the West who have a NOD2 mutation but do not have crohn's disease, in fact the people with the NOD2 mutation having crohn's disease is a very small minority.

The mutations are really interesting since that's all they have to go by that is certain, in the West more people with NOD2 mutation have crohn's disease, but the percentage is extremely small and this is only the case in the West.


Also, there is a cap at which a genetic disease can grow in a population. If you have a population of say 1000 people, and 10 of them have crohn's disease, you can project that in 20 years with a birthrate of 2 people for every 10 citizens, over every 20 years, at best 12 people out of 1000 will have crohn's disease if the disease is genetic. BUT, that's not what is happening with crohn's disease, instead of 12 you have 20+ people with crohn's disease, which shows something in the environment is causing the increase since genetics are unable to explain the rise. Crohn's disease is rising much faster than any genetic disease, far above projections genetics can explain.

In Canada, 1 in 140 people will develop crohn's disease or UC right now. There is more IBD than diabetes I believe in Canada. In some areas in Europe with high rates, 1 in 100 people will get IBD. Something in the environment is responsible for this disease.
 
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I think our genetics make us susceptible to environmental triggers. But at the same time that doesn't explain why some poor babies get it, I was really sick when I was 18 months old, was put on a course of flagyl but they weren't able to diagnose it. Then i lived symptom free until my 20s... Point is this disease is a curve ball
 
Genetics definately plays some part & enviornmental factors also. In my family I'm the only one diagnosed with crohn's as far as I know. I do have a large family line, so not 100% sure. My father had stomach issues similar to mine when I was growing up in the 70s, but he was never diagnosed then. My grandmother died of a stomach obstruction in her late 70s. My daughter has the same exact symptoms as I do. She was tested but they were not able to find anything conclusive with her. When I tested the second time around Crohns did not show up then, after drinking Aloe juice & diet change. But the xrays was very clear in the first test. So that does not mean she does not have Crohns, it just means at he time she tested it was not clearly evident, or wasnt flareing. She still has symptoms from time to time. She tries her best to follow the same plan that I do for Crohns.

I have a friend that took accutane that she says doctors acknowledge, gave her crohns. I've known her for years & she was never aware that she had crohns, it is possible she may have had some stomach issues before. Only until she took this drug, did she have crohns symptoms.
The increased incidence of Crohn's in the industrialized world indicates an environmental factor, or that they have better access to doctors & testing.
 
I also think antibiotics are a HUGE cause for any type of IBD and IBS. Think about it, when a mother who has crohns gives birth to a baby, that baby likley is not going to have a sufficient amount of good flora since babies get most of their gut flora from the mother. The rest they get just by breathing and what they eat. I think this alone is what causes the child to be pre-disposed to getting crohns. They are learning that Gut flora is extremely essential to having a healthy life. Without a correct balance, you are prone and at high risk for all sorts of stuff to go wrong..

I know I have been on low dose antibioitcs due to having horrible urinary infections that I kept getting( I also have IC bladder) which makes me even more prone to infections. Well I wil say that I know in my heart that being on the low dose antibiotics is definitely what has caused my intestinal issues!!
 
I use to think that genetics played a somewhat equal role to environment and triggers but not now, for me I believe genetics plays a large role in our case. It is not just the fact that both of my children have Crohn's, which many would put down to the environmental aspect of things, but because it is identical in so many of the presenting physical aspects, including location and outcomes.

Dusty. :)
 
I have been pondering this very question for quite some time. I too am the only person in my family to ever have Crohn's (what a gift). Before I was diagnosed with Crohn's roughly 2 years ago (at age 17). I lived a very normal life, free of illness. I remember much of my childhood I would pride myself on just how great my immune system was. My sister (16 months older) and I both would get frequent praises from our Primary Care Physician on how we were, "such healthy kids!". The doctor used to complement us on how, from birth, we both have had some of the smallest folders of all his other patients (as you all know, the smaller your folder the better! Means you've had less things that required treatment in your life). I still to this day have not had the stomach flu in over 8 years! Even while being on immuno-suppresive drugs for the past 2.

So I often think to myself; with no one in my family ever having Crohn's, AT ALL, and a nearly perfect immune system......what happened? What caused my awesome immune system to one day go haywire and start, "biting the hand that feeds it"? Was it something I did? Something I ate? Was I somehow "infected"?

I will most likely never know the answer to this burning question. However, I try to view this small misfortune as not a curse, but a gift. A story I can tell my friends. About overcoming a (sometimes) seemingly impossible obstacle, and hopefully give a bit of hope to someone who has none. I am (most of the time) glad to call myself a "Crohnie" and I am blessed to have such great doctors. I feel very blessed as well to have the people of this forum to help me with their seemingly endless kindness, support, and insight!

Thanks!
Cameron
 
I never had inflammatory issues until I was 9 and I got a bad case of salmonella food poisoning and subsequent huge dose of antibiotics. Pretty much right afterwards, I developed canker sores and sebbhorreic dermatitis, iow inflammation. I do think gut trauma early on in your life can be a trigger. No one else in the family tree has crohn's.
 
I have had Crohn's for over 20 years and have not found one single relative on either side of my family that ever had Crohn's,but way back then I am sure if they did have it no one knew what it was for a proper diagnosis.so it is hard to say if it is genetic or not.
 
I have had it for 33 yrs. I want to believe it is genetic, but it requires a trigger. It is the only way I can rationalize it in my mind. No one else in my family has it.
 
Do you think Crohn's is only caused because of genetics?

Do you think if you carried the gene you could have done anything to avoid manifesting the disease? Or do you think it is left up to chance?
Click to expand...

I think a predisposition for Crohn's is determined by our genes. Aren't there diseases where a faulty gene is the cause, but the fault is not inherited from a parent? (Perhaps someone with a better knowledge of this could clarify?) That might be why some people get Crohn's even without a family history. Either that or people can carry the Crohn's gene(s) without necessarily showing signs of it themselves.

I'm not sure whether something enviornmental triggers Crohn's.

I think maybe hormones play a role in triggering Crohn's to begin in someone with a genetic predisposition. Like many other illnesses, Crohn's often seems to begin during teenage years. And don't some women go into remission during pregnancy? I wish I could remember where I read these things now!

I definitely don't think Crohn's can be avoided. To avoid it, it would have to have an enviornmental trigger, which isn't yet proven, and we would have to know for certain what that trigger is. You can't avoid something if you don't even know what it is you have to avoid. There are also things which may be impossible to avoid even if we knew they would trigger Crohn's.
 
Interesting discussion.

I have Crohn's disease, my daughter has UC (although my GI says no way, it has to be Crohn's), and my youngest son has diverticulitis.

My mother had Crohn's and diverticulitis. My sister has diverticulitis. My brother doesn't have a thing wrong with him. One cousin's only son has Crohn's and many more have diverticulitis. My doc says some young geneticist would love to get his hands on my family.
 
I think genes have lots to answers for the part in medical and mental health in families.
I have crohns, I am only one but throught generations on irish is ceicail disease 5 people out 12 sibling have, my mother and second cousin.
 
I read a nifty quote about genetic propensity toward disease, vs. actually developing the disease.

"Genetics is the gun, but environment pulls the trigger".
 
EthanPSU said:
I am the only person in my whole family that has it. No sisters, brothers, cousins, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, noone but me has it in our family.
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Me too never heard of it until i got it and no one in my family has it. My children or grandchildren dont have either I Hope none of them get it i wouldnt wish
it on anyone
Sandra
 
My uneducated opinion is that the genetics set the framework and then environmental factors set it in motion.

I have always had the potential to develop Crohns, but diet, smoking, drinking etc etc, all the 'risk' factors add up to cause a flare which in turn causes the diagnosis.

I'm also quite lucky I think, despite being diagnosed I lived with fairly low-pain crohn's for several years I think and still haven't had the crippling pain from more severe cases I read about here and other places online. It really doesn't affect my day to day life as much as many people, so maybe my view of it is a little different and once it's had a good old fashioned flare-up to change that :ybatty
 
It has a weak genetic connection, at best. Out of 100+ fairly close relatives I know of 3 besides myself with Crohn's. Perhaps 1 person in 100 has Crohn's so this isn't a big effect. And its hard to separate environmental effects like cleanliness that are the result of a culture that's also shared by a family.

It seems to be a civilized disease, and the theory is our modern sanitary conditions and lack of intestinal parasites don't give the immune system enough real threats to work on resulting in IBDs. That's the rationale behind the pig whipworm treatment.
 
I personally think it is purely genetic. My dad, aunt, sister, gma and gpa all had/have it. Along with myself. I am the youngest child, parents had me in their early 40's, I was told by my Dr that that is another reason I have Crohns, bc he said just like older parents have a higher risk for a child with Dow. Syndrome, its the same with crohns. I out of all my siblings had the highest chance of ge it, which I did.
 
maybe genes have some play in it, but no one in my entire family has Crohn's or anything even remotely related to IBD
 
Absolutely not, Not a single person in my family, blood relative has any IBD disease in any shape way or form to pass on to me. Whether they carried the gene and got lucky, I have no idea. I have no idea how I got it, my parents think that me eating so much popcorn as a kid irritated my bowel so much my immune system just didn't shut off. But I really have no idea.
 
CrazyCrohnieKatie said:
I personally think it is purely genetic. My dad, aunt, sister, gma and gpa all had/have it. Along with myself. I am the youngest child, parents had me in their early 40's, I was told by my Dr that that is another reason I have Crohns, bc he said just like older parents have a higher risk for a child with Dow. Syndrome, its the same with crohns. I out of all my siblings had the highest chance of ge it, which I did.
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It can be easily shown it is not purely genetic when you look at monozygotic twins.

Even though they share the same DNA, when one twin has crohn's disease, the likelyhood of the other one getting crohn's disease in his/her lifetime is less than 50%.
 
This is one of the main reasons why I'm hesitant to have children. I don't want anyone else to have to carry this disease because of me.
 
I have 2 children, and neither one has Crohn’s. My doctor said their odds of getting it would only really significantly increase if my husband had Crohn’s too (his father had Crohn’s but Lung Cancer got him).
 
Embyrr
My youngest has Crohns (dx at age 7) now age 15.
No one
And I mean no one else in the family either side has Crohns
With any child you just don’t know what they may or may not have
It just is ...
 

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