People with inflammatory bowel disease are more likely to suffer from asthma. Patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, collectively designated inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), were also more likely to have arthritis, bronchitis, or psoriasis as compared to people without IBD. Researchers from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada found that previous studies have linked chronic inflammatory diseases to IBD, but there have been no studies to identify an association with asthma. The researchers compared 8072 patients with IBD to a control group of individuals matched by age, sex and geography. The team found patients with ulcerative colitis were 1.5 to 1.7 times more likely to have asthma than the general population, while Crohn's disease patients had a 1.3 to 1.4 times greater risk. Among Crohn's disease patients, airway disease was the most common chronic inflammatory condition identified, and it was the second most common seen in ulcerative colitis patients. Respiratory conditions are an underappreciated manifestation of disease in people with IBD and the long-term consequences of leaving such problems untreated may be substantial. The findings suggest that respiratory complaints in patients with IBD should be taken seriously, and probably should be investigated with pulmonary function testing at the very least.
Gastroenterology,
September 2005