Health
Crohn’s disease & Co.: This is why patients should avoid stress
Tips for an anti-inflammatory diet
Tips for an anti-inflammatory diet
Chronic inflammation is increasing. One reason: the modern diet consisting of ready-made products, white flour, sugar and meat. However, with the right diet, inflammation can be reduced!
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More than 300,000 people suffer from Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Researchers show why they should avoid stress at all costs
Berlin. Doctors have heard it many times: patients’ lives are affected chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are out of balance, they suffer particularly – after the death of a family member, for example, marital problems or bullying at work. Then the inflammation usually gets worse.
“Stress plays a big role in this,” says Dr. Michael Schumann, private lecturer and gastroenterologist at the Berlin Charité. The exact connections have so far been a mystery for doctors and patients.
Now a study from the USA is shedding light on the matter for the first time. “Here is a clear one that leads over several corners signaling pathway that explains the phenomenon,” says Schumann, who was not involved in the study.
In Germany, more than 320,000 people suffer from chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and the number is rising. The two most common are ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. “We assume that our modern way of life is highly processed Groceries For example, stress or the frequent use of antibiotics in childhood are responsible. It’s a complex interaction in which many factors add up,” says Elena Sonnenberg, senior physician at the Gastroenterology Clinic at the Berlin Charité.
Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease: relapsing progression is typical
Typical symptoms of IBD include abdominal cramps, diarrhea that lasts for weeks, weight loss, or fever. For some people, the disease is so extreme that it threatens their life. Typical for IBD is one relapsing coursein which phases of high disease activity and severe symptoms alternate with symptom-free phases (remission).
Microbiologist Professor Christoph Thaiss and his team from the University of Pennsylvania (USA) now wanted to find out why chronic stress causes the inflammatory parameters of the intestine to significantly increase. In various Attempt They found an explanation with mice.
According to the information, after a wave of stress, the brain sends signals to the adrenal glands, which in turn produce the body’s own glucocorticoid Cortisone, pours out. The hormone initially has a pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effect, but with chronic stress the system obviously reverses, Thaiss and his team write to us Specialist journal “Nature”.
Chronic intestinal inflammation: Stress molecules alter the immune response
According to the study, an important factor for this is the so-called enteric Nervous system. The intestine is the only organ outside the brain that is equipped with such a nervous system. This consists of neurons and glial cells and largely independently regulates the movement of the intestine during digestion.
In their experiments, the researchers found that this system recognizes and responds to stress hormones and inflammatory ones molecules can produce. These change the immune response in the intestine and hinder muscle regulation, i.e. mobility. Both make the disease worse.
“In this study, we identified a cascade of cellular and molecular events that link the perception of stress to an exacerbation of intestinal inflammation,” the authors write. Parts of this cascade could also apply to other inflammatory diseases of the intestines as well as other disorders outside the digestive tract.
The findings could lead to new therapies
“But there is a strong element in the work contradiction“, says Michael Schumann. Why does the body’s own cortisone worsen the inflammation, even though it is also an active ingredient in the drug treatment for IBD? “The authors have identified this contradiction, but it has not been conclusively clarified,” says Schumann.
Nevertheless: The Charité doctor calls the study excellent. It explains for the first time the processes that cause stress to increase inflammatory bowel disease. And in the long term it would offer the opportunity to develop new treatment options. “This work brought the enteric nervous system into focus. It will certainly be a future goal Therapies be,” says Schumann.
In addition, according to its authors, the study has another added value: it emphasizes the importance of stress management as part of IBD treatment. This includes getting enough sleep and regular exercise. Also Relaxation exercises such as yoga, meditation or autogenic training could help reduce stress and prevent or mitigate flare-ups of illness.