Factors in autoimmune disease—IBD (Crohn’s and Colitis)

Is there a link between autoimmune diseases and IBD?

Naturopathic doctors take a holistic look at your Crohn’s disease (CD) or Ulcerative Colitis (UC) when helping patients with IBD. Naturopathic doctors are experts in holistic medicine, and are trained to treat the root cause of your abdominal pain, gas, diarrhea, or even fistula. As you may know, there is a lot of inflammation in IBD, and that is why many gastroenterologists treat IBD with anti-inflammatory drugs. But the drugs don’t treat the cause of the inflammation, which is an altered immune system. A healthy body doesn’t attack itself and cause inflammation. That wouldn’t be normal! So why is the digestive tract being attacked by the immune system in IBD (Crohn’s and Colitis)?

The first factor is an abnormal hormone system. How is the hormone system related to IBD and how can we use this knowledge to treat IBD?

Did you know that IBD has a peak age of onset from age 14 to age 24? Guess what happens in boys and girls around age 14? You guessed it, puberty! Puberty should not cause IBD, and in most people it doesn’t cause IBD, of course. Only if there is a problem with hormones will there be a problem in the body. But, any condition that starts around puberty probably has a hormonal component and has to be addressed in any treatment of IBD (UC or Crohn’s Disease).

Instead of addressing this underlying cause, most patients receive a prescription for a medication that merely covers up the symptoms of their disorder. If there is a way that you can find relief from a disease naturally, why wouldn’t you want to try it?

Naturopathic medicine encompasses a number of different techniques. Read about some of the services our office offers.