Doctors have discovered a new and innovative way to treat chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) in children. Although simple in concept, doctors have found that dietary regulations can play a huge role in alleviating the pain and other symptoms that come along with illnesses such as childhood ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease.
What is IBD?
With IBD, gut microbiomes, specific bacteria that reside in the digestive tract, go awry and causes the patient’s immune system to attack the bowels, potentially resulting in inflammation, abdominal pain, constipation, weight loss, and fever.
Both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis fall under the IBD umbrella. However, they differ in one important detail. Crohn’s disease can cause inflammation anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract, although it most commonly occurs at the end of the small intestine. Ulcerative colitis only affects the large intestine of the body and is usually concentrated in the colon.
Unfortunately, doctors and scientists alike are still working to understand what causes the gastrointestinal tract to become inflamed and to find treatments that serve as permanent cures.
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| Comparing Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. Source: nih.gov |
Current Treatments
Currently, doctors are treating IBD with steroids and other strong medications with the intention of restraining the immune system from attacking the body. Although effective, these medications have drawbacks for IBD treatment in children. They usually contain strong side effects that can negatively affect the growth and development of a child.
Another issue that doctors face is that current medications are only treating a symptom of the abnormal behavior of the microbiomes and are not able to fix the problem itself—at least until now.
Dr. David Suskind and his research team at Seattle’s Children Hospital are developing a new treatment plan for IBD in children.
Specific Carbohydrate Diet
Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) is an IBD diet treatment plan that Dr. Suskind and his researchers have found to be effective. The SCD is a balanced diet that consists of natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and meat. These foods have the ability to change the gut’s microbiomes, ultimately decreasing inflammation.
The key to this new IBD diet plan is not just the foods that are included, but also the foods that are not. In his study, Dr. Suskind highlights the importance of eliminating processed foods, dairy, sugar, grains, and other foods that tend to agitate microbiomes even more.
With this specific plan, 80 percent of Dr. Suskind’s patients were able to achieve complete remission on dietary therapy alone.
What’s Next?
Although the results of this study are promising, there is still a lot more research that needs to be done. SCD appears to be effective in patients with mild to moderate IBD but may pose more of a challenge to those with severe symptoms.
While doctors continue to develop the idea of IBD diet therapy as well as other treatment plans, there are still other options available for treating IBD in children. There are medications such as Apriso, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that effectively decreases inflammation without the harsh side effects associated with steroids.
Whether you think that your child should take medication for IBD or rely solely on diet therapy, be sure to talk with your doctor to create the best treatment plan that works for both you and your child.
