Spouse Intestinal Permeability Sheds Light on Crohn's Disease

WESTPORT, Conn-Researchers from the University of Calgary in Canada have recently released a report suggesting increased intestinal permeability in Crohn's disease patients could be environmentally caused.

In a study of 60 healthy subjects who were married to Crohn's patients, increased permeability was found in eight spouses. Of the 26 healthy patients in the control group, no increase was noted.

The researchers also took into account the spouses' age, gender, duration of cohabitation with the Crohn's patient, alcohol use, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, and Crohn's disease activity in the patient. None of these factors had any significance on whether the spouse developed increased permeability.

These research points at the potential environmental, rather than genetic, factors that cause Crohn's disease.

Information from www.givenimaging.com, Reuters Health