Inflammatory Bowel Disease Case Study Essay

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease case study Inflammatory bowel disease can be differentiated into two distinct chronic conditions. These two conditions are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and have separate pathologic and clinical differences. The conditions also share some commonalties and careful examination and obtaining a detail history can lead to a correct diagnosis. It is also important to note that Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is not inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s and Colitis, 2017). IBS is a disorder that affects muscle contractions of the bowel. It is not a chronic condition, nor is it related to the inflammatory process (Crohn’s and Colitis, 2017). Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are both chronic diseases that often relapse from inflammatory …show more content…
(Sartor, 2006). It is hypothesized that both are immunologically mediated and the inflammation cascade is started by environmental factors that break the mucosal barrier. In theory, once the mucosal barrier of the intestine is broken, the T-cells from the acquired immune response attack bacteria in individuals with genetic tendencies toward inflammatory bowel disease. For inflammatory bowel diseases to manifest it must have four contributing factors. These factors are genetic susceptibility, an immune response, environmental factors, and microbial antigens and adjuvants. These four genes have been linked to Crohn’s disease: CARD15, DLG5, PPARG, and SLC22A4 &5. Ulcerative colitis has only one associated gene: MDR1. It is thought that these genes help regulate biologic functions such as, determining the integrity of the mucosal barrier, getting rid of microbes, immunoregulation and response, and maintaining homeostasis within the intestinal wall. The