Inflammation causing ulcers does not make sense.

[endrwign]

When I was diagnosed with Crohn's and asked which comes first, the ulcers or the inflammation, doctors told me that the ulcers in my small intestines are a result of the inflammation. In other words, inflammation causes ulcers which then cause strictures as they heal.

This does not make sense to me. How is it that inflammation can cause an ulcer? It makes sense that a bacteria or an overly acidic environment can cause ulcers but inflammation!? I'm not buying that. Anyone here have any information or papers that explain how or why it was decided that the ulcers are being cause by inflammation?

This is part of my ongoing personal investigation into what Crohn's really is (I am convinced that Crohn's is not ONE disease but instead various diseases all categorized under one name. In other words, different people have different subsets of crohn's and as such require different treatments and will respond to treatments differently than someone else with a different subset of Crohn's).

Thank you all for your time.

 

[SarahBear]

When inflammation becomes severe, it ulcerates. It essentially just breaks through the tissue and forms and open wound. The question is more what causes the inflammation.

 

[endrwign]

Is there any other case in the human body where inflammation causes the tissue to "break"? I'm sure the intestines are flexible enough to handle inflammation especially since the inflammation can only go inwards so much before it closes up and you end up in the hospital.

 

[theOcean]

"Prolonged inflammation, known as chronic inflammation, leads to a progressive shift in the type of cells present at the site of inflammation and is characterized by simultaneous destruction and healing of the tissue from the inflammatory process." source. I know it's not a paper, but it gives a lot of examples on the kind of damage each type of inflammation can do (and then sources down below).

 

[endrwign]

Thank you for that link theOcean.

I guess that answers that. So if I understood it correctly, inflammation damages tissue so that the pathogen does not have a good environment in which to thrive and thus dies. Once the pathogen dies, the inflammation then ceases and the tissue heals. If the inflammation occurs in the same spot over and over and over again, the tissue is destroyed more and more and this becomes a problem. The healing of this tissue then causes strictures or scar tissue.

Alright now I can continue to the next leg of my research

 

[theOcean]

Yep, that sounds right to me. Good luck!

 

[Ihurt]

Well, they use to think Stomach ulcers were caused by stress until they discovered stomach ulcers were the result of a bacteria called H-Pylori. I mean nobody knows what causes crohns disease and for all anyone knows, it could be caused by a bacteria. Bacteria are known to cause ulcers( especially pathogenic bacteria). I have a disease called IC (Interstitial Cystitis) which is inflammation of the bladder. Some people with IC also get Hunners Ulcers in their bladders with this disease. Not everyone with IC does, but some do. I will say that the ONLY thing that ever helped my IC is being on antibiotics. This tells me that IC is likely caused by a bacteria of some sort, doctors just don't know it.

I would also think that when a person gets ulcers it could be because there is a defect in the lining that allows the bacteria to eat away at it. So I guess the big question is what causes the defect in the lining of the gut?