• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Crohn’s disease in teens jumps 300 per cent in 10 years fuelled by junk food

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
Crohn’s disease in teens jumps 300 per cent in 10 years fuelled by junk food

For everyone who was pissed off earlier by the BBC "junk food" article, brace yourselves...

"Four times as many teenagers being treated for Crohn's disease compared to 10 years ago with experts blaming increased use of antibiotics and junk food

The number of teenagers with Crohn’s disease has jumped more than 300 per cent in the last 10 years because of junk food and the overuse of antibiotics.

According to figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre, some 4,937 16 to 29-year-olds were admitted for treatment in England between 2003 and 2004, but last year the figure rose to 19,405.

Previous studies have shown that people who have been prescribed large numbers of antibiotics in early life are more likely to develop the problem as the drugs destroy beneficial bacteria in the gut.

Crohn's disease is a long-term condition that causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract and causes weight loss, diarrhoea fatigue and nausea. Often ulcers can develop and they can be painful as food passes them in the intestine.

Dr Sally Mitton, a consultant gastroenterologist at St George's Hospital in south-west London, told BBC Newsbeat the rise could partly be blamed on junk food.

"Definitely, if you have a lot of junk food before your diagnosis it actually makes it more likely that you will develop Crohn's disease.

"Also people have noticed those who have lots of antibiotic - particularly in younger life - also seem to be more likely to develop this condition

"All the centres that get lots of referrals have noticed an increase and that's been over the last few decades.

"The reason you'll see more patients being admitted is that if you're actually getting more diagnoses every year, you are certainly going to have an increase in the number being admitted."

It's estimated around 250,000 people suffer from the condition in the UK. Most sufferers are also genetically disposed to the developing Crohn's.

There is no cure but many patients can learn to manage the symptoms, often by altering their diet.

The disease can be found anywhere along the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus.

Liam Ruff, 19, from Sussex, was diagnosed with the condition aged 12. Since then he has suffered crippling cramps, weight loss and still battles with severe diarrhoea and fatigue.

“There was one occasion when I was in such bad pain and dehydrated that my mum had to take me to hospital,” he said

"For a whole year when I was 17 I lived with part of my intestine hanging out of my tummy with a bag attached to it. So anything that would pass through me would collect in the bag and I'd empty the bag.”

He says it was "very tough" and feels he's missed out on things many people take for granted like playing sport and drinking alcohol.

"I've been through a bit of depression with it. There's odd days when I'll just have a breakdown, have a little cry and then get on with it,” he said.

A spokesman for the charity Crohn’s and Colitis UK said: "At this point there has been no definitive scientific link made to any particular diets or food additives as being a sole cause of the disease. There are many possible reasons why a patient may develop Crohn's or Ulcerative colitis, including genetic and various environmental factors, and each patient's case is individual.

"The reason for the increased numbers of hospital admissions over the last ten years may reflect the increasing numbers of patients, often young people, being diagnosed with IBD. An estimated 10,000 young people are diagnosed with both Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis every year. The increased admissions figure may also reflect the fact that hospitals are improving their data information capture systems. We need more studies and information to offer a more definitive answer."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...er-cent-in-10-years-fuelled-by-junk-food.html
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
I love the very unscientific theory stated in paragraph after paragraph with only a little blurp at the end correcting it .

See if I only I had known the junk food caused Ibd .
My kiddo wouldn't have been dx at 7 with signs since birth .
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
My parents always made an effort to have me eat healthy and we were organic before people even knew what it meant so I resent the assertion that we all ate junk.
 

kiny

Well-known member
Thank you. Saturated fats don't seem to be linked to CD, I don't know if the "blame junk food" theory makes much sense.

CD has also never been linked to obesity afaik.

 
I used to eat junk food all the time & I don't have crohn's. I started eating healthy when I was pregnant & now my youngest has crohn's. If I use the same stupid theories I guess the healthy food is what gave my kid crohn's.

It is amazing the poor journalism that is at work in this article. I would love to know the 'source' as I bet this article takes the materials from the source completely out of context and distorts them massively.
 
Yes this is just crazy, my IBD kiddo never really ate junk food - didn't like it. His preferred snacks spinach with a little salt/pepper sprinkled on it, strawberries and oranges. My non IBD kiddo could have lived off candy, chicken nuggets, french fries, soda. So by this shouldn't he be the one with Crohn's.
 
I hear alot of "I ate healthy" but that usually means " I ate lots of 'healthy' grains and not much 'unhealthy' fat.................
 
There's been a few articles since this drivel appeared that shoot it down,the anti-biotic thing may be relevant as there almost impossible to avoid as they are used fairly widely in farming industry
 

kiny

Well-known member
I have asked the BBC where they got the data from that junk food would explain the rise in crohn's disease cases and they told me it was from the pediatric doctor they quoted. I asked that doctor and she is unwilling to reply how she got to that conclusion. She hasn't written a single paper about it either.

Dr Sally Mitton, GI at St George's Hospital.

""Definitely, if you have a lot of junk food before your diagnosis it actually makes it more likely that you will develop Crohn's disease. "
 
Last edited:

kiny

Well-known member
I did not say that junk food or frequent courses of antibiotics cause Crohn’s disease.”
she said exactly that



I'm amazed these people are one GI, manage to find a job at a hospital while knowing nothing about the disease, claim things they can't back up, and think they are the ones who should be talking to the media.

Thousands of people and volunteer do their best to educate people. And then you have an actual doctor who manages to undo it all by talking to the media.

Get a new job. People shouldn't tolerate it.
 

rygon

Moderator
The problem is she may not have said that, that's just what the BBC quoted her as saying.

Not the same but my mum was interviewed by the local papers when she bought a new car. I'm not sure why they bothered as what was printed was nothing like what she had said. Somehow "I have only done a few miles in it so far" turned into "It's my weekend car".
 

Catherine

Moderator
I am not saying the doctor didn't make a silly comment but the media will also take comment out of context to get the angle they want.
 
she said exactly that



I'm amazed these people are one GI, manage to find a job at a hospital while knowing nothing about the disease, claim things they can't back up, and think they are the ones who should be talking to the media.

Thousands of people and volunteer do their best to educate people. And then you have an actual doctor who manages to undo it all by talking to the media.

Get a new job. People shouldn't tolerate it.
The first quote, you should be fine with.

The second quote is more a definitive statement, which I will actually agree with you on. Because what exactly defines "junk food". Is it fast food? Candy? She should be more specific.
 
I contacted Crohn's and Colitis UK, they are aware of this article and have contacted the Daily Mail press office to have it amended or removed.
 
I,ve read this article a couple of times and it doesn't,t bother me this paper specialises in junk medical articles there's a cure for everything in the works!if only.the good thing about these news report is for it gets it out there and raises awareness,can,t be a bad thing until I got slapped with crohns I,d never heard of it,just remember today's newspaper wraps your fish suppers tomorrow
 
I would recommend tweeting the journalist Angela Epstein (@adepstein1) who wrote the article to let her know it is incorrect, the more people who do this, the better
 
Regardless of who said what in the article, the mere fact that this disease has jumped 300 percent in 10 years is highly disturbing and points to a definite problem within our environment SOMEWHERE. This is slowly showing to be an infection. The sooner we and all researches realize this the better off we will be. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think other real "autoimmune" illnesses have ever quadrupled in a 10 year timespan.
 
It could simply be increased awareness of the disorders existence. How many cases went under the moniker of IBS before? Who can know?
 
i see it as showing it to be food/nutrition/toxicity related
You're right. Our food supply is contaminated. Have you heard of MAP and how 90% of dairy herds in the United States have at least 1 member of the herd that is infected with this mycobacterium? This bacteria causes inflammation of the intestines, weight loss, cachexia, diarrhea, and eventually death. Symptoms very similar to Crohns. In fact, Koch's postulates have already been confirmed between MAP and Crohns.
www.crohnsmapvaccine.com.

Don't you stay away from Red Meat? I've been avoiding everything related to cattle since i learned about it.

Also, I think Norman Borlaug's manipulation and mutation of the grain supply in the 60s has something to do with it too. Europeans have been eating almost nothing but bread for at least 10,000 years. That's more than enough time for us to adjust to eating bread. I think this manipulation has also lead to a lot of inflammatory issues.

Orchid said:
It could simply be increased awareness of the disorders existence. How many cases went under the moniker of IBS before? Who can know?
I don't think simply increased awareness leads to a four fold increase in hospital admissions in 10 years. People are literally so sick they are being admitted to hospitals. I don't think any new diagnostic revelations have occurred the last 10 years for Crohn's patients.
 
Top