So I came about this dissertation which literally summarizes all of the analysis and research done on MAP and Crohn's, a very interesting read. For lack of a better word - it "summarizes" 30 years worth of data and discusses the potential for associated between MAP and Crohn's - in a lot more detail than you would find in many online publications:
Excerpt #1:
For more than 30 years researchers have investigated M. paratuberculosis as a potential
cause of Crohn’s disease in humans and more recently as a cause of other human diseases
such as diabetes mellitus type 1 (T1DM) and multiple sclerosis; the evidence for these causal
relationships is summarized in a recent systematic review (Chapter 4) [11]. In brief,
researchers have demonstrated epidemiological associations between these diseases and the
presence of or seropositivity to M. paratuberculosis, however, there was a lack of association
between high exposure occupations (e.g. farmers, large animal veterinarians) and
development of Crohn’s disease [11].
A survey of topic specialists (Chapter 5) concurred
with the findings of our synthesis research (Chapter 4) that M. paratuberculosis likely poses
a risk to human health. In this survey, 93% of respondents ranked it somewhere between low
and high risk [10], however, many topic specialists considered the priority of M.
paratuberculosis as a public health issue as only moderate due to poor understanding of how
exposure relates to disease [10].
Another excerpt:
Risk Characterisation: M. paratuberculosis
The epidemiological evidence indicates a fairly consistent association between M.
paratuberculosis and human diseases like Crohn’s disease [11]. These associations do not
necessarily reflect a causal relationship and there are numerous knowledge gaps in
understanding, including whether M. paratuberculosis is indeed pathogenic to humans and if
so the pathogenesis of disease, susceptible populations, and conditions of exposure (Chapters
4 and 5) [11, 12]. Overall, the available evidence suggests that M. paratuberculosis is likely
a component cause of Crohn’s disease, probably involving other factors. If this is true, there
may be many combinations of sufficient component causes that lead to Crohn’s disease,
some of which do not require exposure to M. paratuberculosis. [25]. This is supported by the
inability to detect M. paratuberculosis in all Crohn’s disease patients and the lack of
association between Crohn’s disease and occupational exposure, e.g. farmer or veterinarian
working with infected livestock [11, 26, 27]. Immune dysfunction in combination with other
factors is among the hypothesized multi-factorial causes of Crohn’s disease [25]. A good
deal of research has gone into identifying human genotypes associated with up or downregulation
of certain immune pathways and there is a large number of loci associated with
Crohn’s disease, but little clarity on which deficiencies result in development of Crohn’s
disease [28-30].
Here is the link to the dissertation (not sure if it was published yet):
https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlu...ll_Lisa_201605_PhD.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
So the takeaways from my opinion: It may take a while to determine the cause and affect of MAP on Crohn's pathogenisis, however, the affiliation between the two is there and there is strong evidence indicating this. Therefore, preventative and caution should be taken = taking the MAP Vaccine just in case
Whether or not my husband tests positive when he tries for it down the line, this is something hopefully as soon as it is approved 3-5 years down the line, that I think wouldn't hurt at all to take.
I hope the link works for you guys this time (it was presented April, 2016)!
