- Researchers report that changes indicative of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be found in blood tests up to eight years prior to a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease and three years prior to a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis.
- Experts say being able to identify the condition earlier could improve patient outcomes, including lessening severity of the disease.
- They note that by the time many people are diagnosed with IBD, significant damage may already have occurred.
Changes that may indicate inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may be detectable in blood tests up to eight years prior to a Crohn’s diagnosis and up to three years prior to an ulcerative colitis diagnosis.
“Our research shows that the bowel damage we’re seeing at the point of diagnosis is just the tip of the iceberg. So many changes are subtly taking place in the body before the disease takes hold,” James Lee, a co-author of the study and group leader of the Genetic Mechanisms of Disease Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute in London, said in a press statement.
“This has huge implications for prevention as it highlights that there’s a window of opportunity for treatment,” Lee added. “We don’t yet know whether preventative measures like changing diet or stopping smoking would stop someone getting these diseases, but this opens the door to that possibility. It also underscores the importance of early diagnosis and treatment, as many of the changes in the gut are likely to have been happening long before people become ill.”
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are inflammatory bowel diseases that cause chronic inflammation to the gastrointestinal tract.
Roughly
Symptoms of IBD may mimic symptoms of other conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome,…
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