http://www.mthfrease.com/mthfr/2013/01/09/mthfr-and-ulcerative-colitis/
this is a blood clotting disorder that's genetic. I have it and have been told that there is a link between that and having Crohn's & UC.
Anybody else have this as well?
I think you misinterpreted what that article was saying. A lot of people have a MTHFr genetic weakness. One variation on this weakness (C677T) is more prevalent in Crohn's and colitis. Yes, this C677T variant is also associated with a blood clotting disorder. However, that doesn't mean you are invariably going to get a blood clotting disorder. It doesn't mean that a person is invariably going to get Crohn's or colitis either. There are a lot of other diseases associated with this variation / weakness, too. It takes other things going wrong in the body for any of these diseases to materialize.
This MTHFr genetic weakness makes it more difficult for the body to turn formyl-folate into methyl-folate. This is just one step in the process of creating methyl-folate. There can also be weaknesses in preliminary steps leading up to this conversion spot. There are a lot of people with at least some genetic weakness someplace along the processing line of creating methyl-folate. I believe I read about 60 percent of the US population has at least some problems here. So, this isn't an inevitable sentence to illness. Lots of people have this weakness, to at least some extent.
Luckily, since you have found out that this is a genetic weakness for you, you can counteract it. This weakness means that on average, your body will be making less methyl-folate than someone else. So, you take a supplement of methyl-folate. It is almost as simple as that.
The problem is, how much do you take? That varies from 1 mg to 15 mg per day, depending on how severe the problem is. Each person is different. However, you never start with 15 mg. Always start with the 1 mg. Watch how it affects you. Make sure you have plenty of B12 with it. Have your doctor monitor your homocysteine levels. You need to take enough methyl-folate, methyl-B12 and P5P (pyridoxal-5-phosphate) to bring your homocysteine levels down to normal. Even then, some people need a bit more of the methyl-folate. If the methyl-folate supplement doesn't make you feel well, then perhaps you need some niacinamide or P5P to go with it. Supplements need balance.
Besides the genetic weakness, there are other conditions in the body which can interfere with your methyl-folate level or use. Too much folic acid could interfere with the use of the methyl-folate. Mercury or arsenic could be a problem. Acetaldehyde created by yeast could be a problem. Since people with Crohn's and colitis generally have more yeast in their intestines, there is most likely a problem here with methyl-folate, even if the person doesn't have this genetic weakness.
The following is something I put together for a SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth) discussion list. Most of it is applicable to Crohn's / colitis as well.
TYPES OF FOLIC ACID / FOLATE / VITAMIN B9
Vitamin B9 is usually referred to as folic acid, even though folic acid is just the synthetic form of this vitamin. If one were to be more exact, the term folic acid would only be used to refer to the fully oxidized synthetic compound known as pteroylmonoglutamic acid. This is the form of vitamin B9 found in most vitamin supplements and in fortified flour.
The body will try to convert the synthetic folic acid into dihydrofolate and then into 5-formyl-tetrahydrofolate and then into 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate. Unfortunately, up to 60 percent of the people in the USA have at least some genetic trouble converting folic acid into these various folates. This conversion process can also be thwarted by heavy metals, alcohol, solvents, chemicals, toxins, certain antibiotics or drugs, and the acetaldehyde produced by yeast. Because of these conversion problems, other forms of vitamin B9 have now become available on the market.
If the body is having trouble converting folic acid into a more useable form, then ingesting folic acid may result in a build-up of folic acid in the blood. Some people are very sensitive to this build-up of folic acid and feel better when they avoid all food and supplements that have been fortified with the synthetic folic acid. One possible reason for their sensitivity is that a build-up of folic acid in the blood can actually interfere with methyl-folate (5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate) crossing the blood brain barrier. Methyl-folate is the only form of vitamin B9 that crosses the blood-brain barrier. There it is needed to help create your brain’s neurotransmitters, like serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. When the brain doesn’t get enough methyl-folate, one may suffer from depression, migraines, foggy thinking, irritability and many other brain symptoms.
According to Wikipedia,
“Common symptoms of folate deficiency include diarrhea, macrocytic anemia with weakness or shortness of breath, nerve damage with weakness and limb numbness (peripheral neuropathy)[citation needed], pregnancy complications, mental confusion, forgetfulness or other cognitive declines, mental depression, sore or swollen tongue, peptic or mouth ulcers, headaches, heart palpitations, irritability, and behavioral disorders. Low levels of folate can also lead to homocysteine accumulation.[7] DNA synthesis and repair are impaired and this could lead to cancer development.”
Dr. Ben Lynch has a surprisingly long list of things that could be caused by the lack of methyl-folate. This is his list as of December 6, 2012
Autism
Addictions: smoking, drugs, alcohol
Down's syndrome
Miscarriages
Pulmonary embolisms
Depression in Post-Menopausal Women
Schizophrenia
Fibromyalgia
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chemical Sensitivity
Parkinson's
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Pre-eclampsia
Stroke
Spina bifida
Esophageal Squamous cell carcinoma
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Vascular Dementia
Bipolar disorder
Colorectal Adenoma
Idiopathic male infertility
Blood clots
Rectal cancer
Meningioma
Glioma
Congenital Heart Defects
Infant depression via epigenetic processes caused by maternal depression
Deficits in childhood cognitive development
Gastric Cancer
Migraines with aura
Low HDL
High homocysteine
Post-menopausal breast cancer
Atherosclerosis
Oral Clefts
Type 1 Diabetes
Epilepsy
Primary Closed Angle Glaucoma
Alzheimer's
Tetralogy of Fallot
Decreased telomere length
Potential drug toxicities: methotrexate, anti-epileptics
Cervical dysplasia
Increased bone fracture risk in post-menopausal women
Multiple Sclerosis
Essential Hypertension
Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma
Prostate Cancer
Premature Death
Placental Abruption
Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)
Methotrexate Toxicity
Nitrous Oxide Toxicity
Heart Murmurs
Tight Anal Sphincters
Tongue Tie
Midline Defects (many are listed above)
Behcet's Disease
Ischemic Stroke in Children
Unexplained Neurologic Disease
Asthma
Shortness of Breath
Bladder Cancer
Anecephaly
http://mthfr.net/mthfr-mutations-and-the-conditions-they-cause/2011/09/07/
One might be able to add Raynaud’s to that list, since folate is low and it is needed for circulation.
WHEN NOT TO TAKE METHYL-FOLATE
http://mthfr.net/taking-folate-and-feeling-badly-methylation-requires-balance/2011/11/15/
According to this reference, if you methionine levels are high, then you might not tolerate the methyl-folate because it could raise methionine levels even higher. If your methionine levels are high, this doctor suggests trying P5P and magnesium first to help bring methionine levels down. Then you may be able to tolerate the methyl-folate.
Some people may have to start slowly, because the methyl-folate may open up microcirculation. When you first open up microcirculation, you may experience some inflammation or uncomfortable reactions.
WHERE TO PURCHASE METHYL-FOLATE AND FORMYL-FOLATE
Formyl-folate also goes by the names of formyltetrahydrofolate, folinic acid and leucovorin (prescription). If you are looking to purchase some formyl-folate, most vitamin supplements call it folinic acid. The other form available as a supplement is methyl-folate. It also goes by the names of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, and 5-MTHF.
The vitamin supplements using this form call it a whole host of different names. Life Extension calls their methyl-folate product Optimized Folate, and Metagenics calls their product FolaPro. Solgar calls their product just Folate. Nutricology calls their product QuatreActiv Folate. Jarrow calls their product Methyl-folate. Vitacost calls their product Bioavailable Folate. Thorne Research calls their product 5-MTHF. XYMOGEN® also calls their product 5-MTHF. These products contain anywhere from 0.4 to 1 mg per pill.
However, there are a couple of higher dose products if you need them. The price per unit active ingredient is cheaper with these. So, if you need a higher dose, use these instead of taking a lot of the lower dose pills. Neurobiologix sells Methyl-folate Plus and 5-MTHF. Each of these contains 5 mg per pill as well. However, there is also some folinic acid and niacinamide in the Methyl-folate Plus product. (So, it costs a bit more.) When you take into account the dose, these two Neurobiologix methyl-folate products are considerably cheaper per unit than the other products that I’ve seen on the market.
There are two prescription products that contain methyl-folate --- Deplin and Metanx. Deplin is specifically marketed as useful for treating depression. It is a high potency product containing 7.5 or 15 mg of methyl-folate per pill. (Rather expensive.) Another prescription that contains methyl-folate is Metanx. This prescription is used to treat diabetic neuropathy. It contains about 3 mg of methyl-folate per pill along with some other B vitamins in their active coenzyme form.
If you find something else on the market, make sure it is the pure L form, and that it doesn’t contain the D form. Someplace on the label, the product should say L-methyltetrahydrofolate, Metafolin or Quatrefolic.
==========================
Gut. 1999 September; 45(3): 389–394.
PMCID: PMC1727640
Increased prevalence of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T variant in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, and its clinical implications
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1727640/
Note the research group suggests you take more folic acid. What they should have said was that you should take more methyl-folate, also known as methyltetrahydrofolate.
