Crohns Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowl Syndrome: New Health Discoveries

• The medical discoveries of the underlying biology and causes that are helping people solve the riddle of Crohns disease, naturally. How?

• "Back to nature" health discoveries are being used to avoid harmful effects of the long-term use of steroids, e.g. prednisone, AND lessening the very high risk of developing colon cancer.

With the new understanding of the biology of Crohns, colitis and IBS, plus clinically tested supplements, they are dealing with pain and inflammation naturally!

Crohns: an "attacking" Immune System?

• In effect, the immune cells, “pick on” or “attack” the lining of the gut.

• Fortunately, there are "back to nature" medical discoveries that will bring such an overactive immune system "back into line."

• There are supplements with clinical trials showing them to "modulate" the immune system, e.g. they regulate the over-active immune response, while they strengthen any weak immune cells.

Ask us for the clinical research, and:

Recommendations for Immune Supplements for Crohns:

How do Natural Supplements Work for Colitis-Crohns?

Research is saying that the pain and inflammation of Crohns Colitis is clearly linked to “oxidative stress” and “free radical damage.”

These free radicals are the by-products of metabolism and stress, and they cause damage if they are not neutralized in time. How does this cause damage?

Free radicals are unstable molecules that attack healthy tissues. They rob protons from healthy tissues to re-stabilize themselves, and this can lead to the symptoms of Crohns disease.

Eventually, the ongoing oxidative stress that generates free radicals causes the damage that leads to, or aggravates the inflammation and ulcers of Crohns.

Why Are Free Radicals “Out of Hand?”

Researchers say that with Ulcerative Colitis and eventually Crohns, the body’s normal protective “antioxidant response” is “impaired” or weakened!

How do they know this?

Their indicator of an impaired antioxidant response is a low level of a substance called glutathione -- the body's own "Master Antioxidant." Glutathione is a protective molecule, so that when it is absent or low, the body’s normal protective “antioxidant response” is impaired or weakened.

Numerous researchers have shown that glutathione (GSH) is markedly lower in the mucosa of people with active Crohn's colitis, and even in other areas of their mucosa that are still healthy.

Glutathione depletion tends to be even more severe in malnourished patients. The nutritional status of those suffering from this disease has been investigated at great length, and reveals glutathione depletion throughout the body.

This can lead to prolonged inflammation, chronic abscesses, deep fissures, malabsorption, infection, bowl obstruction and deep ulcers.

For FREE E-BOOK

What Doctors say about raising glutathione as a NATURAL solution to chronic illnesses.

But taking Oral Glutathione Pills Doesn't Work..

Yes, a small amount may benefit the lining of the bowel directly, but the cells throughout the body must make their own supply of glutathione using the nutritional precursors. This protects the whole body and can heal the ulcers.

Enhancing glutathione is best done through the diet using cysteine, the building block for glutathione production. Again, taking cysteine in pill form is toxic and not recommended.

Effective Dietary Supplements for Raising Glutathione:

New Findings: Crohns & the Immune

In this case, the white blood cells of the immune system “pick on” or “attack” the lining of the gut, and compound the damage already done by free radicals.

This means that the immune system is “over the top,” and can add to pain and inflammation of the disease.

Fortunately, there is new research showing that the immune can be “brought back into line,” if it is “over active” by enhancing the body's level of glutathione. See: Autoimmune Disease

To Reverse Damage, Feed the Immune

Bringing the Immune system back in line can be done by taking the nutritional precursors for making glutathione. Research shows that chronic inflammatory conditions have been associated with low glutathione concentrations in both serum and red-blood-cell.

The risk of cancer is also as much as 20 times higher than in normal individuals, so that balancing the immune is very important for prevention.

To Reverse Damage, Stop Free Radicals

It turns out that glutathione is the body's own “master antioxidant,” whose job it is to neutralize free radicals so they cause no harm. Without glutathione, antioxidants like vitamin C and E are not effective.

Fortunately, research has shown that the intestinal mucosa can indeed be “re-charged” when the body has enough of this protective molecule called glutathione.

To Reverse Damage, Improve Malnutrition

One of the biggest, not well-known, medical health discoveries is the role of glutathione in neutralizing free radicals and reducing "oxidative stress."

Glutathione is the body’s own mechanism that gives these unstable free radicals extra molecules, so as to “neutralize” or stabilize them. Damage to the lining of the intestine in Crohns disease can be slowed down by making sure the body has enough glutathione.

The trouble is that you can’t simply reach for a bottle of glutathione pills, because it is a protein and it gets digested before it can get into the cells.

Glutathione must be manufactured in the body itself!

The experts say that the body’s glutathione can best be raised by providing the nutritional precursors.

It is possible to stimulate the production by adding the precursor cysteine, or its building block to your diet.

Adding a cysteine supplement (dietary cysteine, not a pill) will increase the production of glutathione will protect the lining of the gut with Crohns.

Reducing Pain and Inflammation

Researchers have demonstrated the lessening of inflammation in the affected areas by raising glutathione levels in the tissues of Crohns patients.

Glutathione must be manufactured in the body itself, so by adding the precursor cysteine, to your diet, the production of glutathione will increase, and it will protect the lining of the gut. The discovery of enhancing the body’s glutathione

Dr. Gutman on Crohns, Ulcerative Colitis and Inflammatory Bowl Disease

Recent research suggests that raising glutathione levels may be a novel approach to the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Crohn’s Disease

Crohns disease is less selective and may affect any part of the digestive system, from mouth to anus. It is most common in the ileum (the end of the small intestine where it joins the large intestine).

The disease occurs in heavy patches, but areas between these diseased patches are also mildly affected. It is most common in the gut where the intestine wall may grow extremely thick following repeated inflammation. Deep ulcers may pass right through the lining and completely penetrate the gut tissues.

With repeated and prolonged inflammation of the intestine the entire thickness of the intestinal wall becomes affected. The thickening of the wall may narrow the intestinal passage and obstruct it. Symptoms can include spasms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, appetite loss, anemia and weight loss.

The elderly are more prone to inflammation of the rectum. Young and old alike may suffer from chronic abscesses, deeps fissures (cracks) and fistulas (abnormal passageways) in the anus. Because the entire digestive system is susceptible, complications are more profound than those following ulcerative colitis. They include bowel obstruction, infection, malabsorption, and elevated cancer risk – as much as 20 times greater than healthy individuals.

Like ulcerative colitis, the exact cause of Crohn’s disease is unknown, but there tends to be a stronger familial tendency.

Research evidence suggests that glutathione defends the bowel and stomach lining against various threats, including toxins, oxidative stress and carcinogenesis.

Their results have prompted others to seek ways to raise glutathione levels in humans, for both preventive and curative purposes.

Elevated glutathione levels may protect against gastritis, ulcer and cancer and can certainly compliment conventional treatments for these diseases.

Malnutrition, Crohns and GSH

However, there is still debate as to whether the free radicals cause or result from the damage characterizing these diseases. Samples of tissue inflamed by ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease show consistent evidence of severe oxidative stress.

The degree of oxidative damage can even be correlated to the degree of inflammation. Of all the antioxidants that can prevent or retard this damage, GSH is the central one.

Researchers from all over the world – including L. Bhaskar from India and GD. Buffington from Australia have looked at tissues affected by inflammatory bowel disease and Crohns disease. All have identified a significant depletion of glutathione and alteration of its enzymes.

In the past, most researchers believed that glutathione, (GSH) depletion was more likely to be a consequence of ongoing inflammation and oxidative stress than a contributing cause of the problem.

But today, opinions may be changing. More recent findings by B. Sido of the University of Heidelberg in Germany have found not only diminished GSH levels but also diminished activity of the enzymes involved with GSH production.

This implies that declining GSH production may actually contribute to the development of the disease.

Antioxidant therapy has thus emerged as a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. One of the more traditional groups of medications applied to these diseases are the aminosalicylates (sulfasalazine, Asacol, Dipentum, etc.). These are potent antioxidants, but are also pharmaceutical drugs, and the hunt for less toxic, more natural products is on.

T. Cruz and J. Galvez and their team from the University of Granada in Spain, were able to protect inflamed bowels with a flavonoid called rutoside – flavonoids are a variety of crystalline compounds found in plants. This worked with both acute and chronic disease. They explained their success by pointing to rutoside’s tendency to maintain or increase glutathione content in the gut.

Malnutrition results more often from Crohn’s disease (CD) than from ulcerative colitis. The reasons are complex but are summarized by the fact that CD is more deeply involved in the bowel.

The nutritional status of those suffering from this disease has been investigated at great length, and reveals a generalized glutathione depletion throughout the body. These findings have also been reported in children with CD, possibly resulting from ongoing oxidative stress.

Numerous scientists have suggested oral GSH supplementation as a treatment for UC and CD.

However, oral glutathione is not very effective in raising total body GSH. However, these digestive tissues seem able to make use of locally supplemented GSH. The tissues most positively affected by oral GSH are those in direct contact with it. The intestinal lining (mucosa) provides such an opportunity. In fact Alton Meister – often called the father of GSH research – suggests that both oral GSH and GSH excreted in the bile can protect the intestinal mucosa from injury. Experimental depletion of gut glutathione leads to severe damage of this sensitive lining.

Enhancing Glutathione for Crohns Disease

Different antioxidants including GSH, GSH monoesters, NAC (N-acetylcysteine), vitamin C (ascorbate), vitamin E (tocopherol), SOD (Superoxide dismutase) and others have been used with varying success.

It may not be clear whether GSH loss is a cause or consequence of these inflammatory disorders, but in either case, they are positively affected by therapies that raise or sustain GSH levels.

Recent research definitely suggests that raising glutathione levels with dietary cysteine supplements may be a novel approach to the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease.

Glutathione is best raised by providing the nutritional pre-cursor cysteine, as discovered by Dr. G. Bounous of Mc Gill University.

Please Send Me Studies on Crohn's and GSH:

Links

Auto Immune Disease & Re-Balancing The Immune; Living Well With Auto Immune Disease; Glutathione, the Immune and Crohns Colitis;

Health Discoveries Cure for Crohns Disease Colitis: Nutrtition & Dietary Supplements Helping Pain, Inflammation and Cancer Risk

Go to Health Discoveries HOME PAGE from Crohns

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