After reading the basic article, Smoking and sugar intake are separate but interactive risk factors in Crohn’s disease, I wanted to look and see if alcohol had been researched in affecting Crohn’s disease.
I found an article from Health Central called, Alcohol Consumption and Crohn’s Disease. This article was written explaining the research and results done by Scandinavian researches who had been published in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology (2007). The research supported the hypothesis that drinking alcoholic drinks can increase abdominal pain in people living with Crohn’s disease. Another finding that the study discovered was that the amount of sugar in the alcoholic drink made a difference in if the participants’ system tolerated the drink.
The researches asked patients who were in remission to drink 5 different alcoholic drinks at different and random times. These drinks included red wine, white wine, Smirnoff Ice, Elephant Beer, and pure ethanol. Their findings were supported because the findings showed that abdominal pain was worse when the patient had consumed Smirnoff Ice or Elephant beer. Both of these drinks have higher sugar amounts compared to the other drinks.
The study also supported the finding that diseases are individualized, while most patients’ symptoms were worse when the consumed alcoholic beverages, especially when they had a high amount of sugar, some patients did not have negative effects after consuming alcohol.
The article from Health Central can be found at the following URL:
http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/17824/40351/alcohol-consumption
I find it interesting that the sugar content of the beverage was a significant factor in drink toleration. Based on the above information, though, it seems that individuals with CD have less tolerance for alcohol in general. I'm curious if this study mentioned any statistics on regular alcohol consumption of CD patients and how this compares to healthy individuals.
ReplyDeleteWhile CD may make it difficult to tolerate alcohol as well, I have to wonder if there would still be some increased level of consumption in hopes of compensating for the stress and other difficulties that CD presents, at least in those individuals who had milder cases of CD.
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI am trying to find the original study but the article did give the indication that the study found the alcohol did cause increased abdominal pain in most of the participants in the study.
I do not know if the study had healthy individuals consume the different alcohols it only stated that the patient's were asked to drink the 5 different alcoholic drinks. There were no statistics mentioned in the article on the study but I am sure the original study article did have statistics, however, until I locate this article which might be difficult since the author did not reference the study I cannot confirm if they had statistics.
I think the sugar aspect of the article is interesting since yesterday's we discussed the other article. I think this problem is because of the intestine trying to digest the sugars and this might be difficult in CD patients.
The article did not mention if the consumption of alcohol had increased to try and compensate for the stress. While in some patient's this might be true, I think most CD patients would want to avoid any more pain.
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI just found the article and they did have healthy individuals as the controls. They mentioned that there was no difference in the absorption of alcohol between the CD and control individuals. However, the sugar content seems to have an effect on the CD patients because the patient's self reported more abdominal pain after drinking Smirnoff Ice and Elephant Beer which have a greater amount of sugar in them. The article does not mention about the amounts of alcohol being consumed being higher in those patients with CD to try and find relief from stress.
Original study: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/apl/sgas/2007/00000042/00000008/art00011;jsessionid=19qbtpkdu271r.victoria
From personal experience, I can't say that anything about smirnoff ice is pleasant for digestion! This is interesting though, I'm always curious as to why moderate ethanol seems to regulate inflammatory associated diseases. Did the subjects drinking the non-sugary drinks report worsening abdominal pain?
ReplyDeleteThe research suggested that the red wine, white wine, and ethanol had similar effects on the CD patients and the control groups so my interpretation was that they felt very little discomfort if any. The discomfort was self reported but I think CD pateints would be honest since they would want to find some relief about their disease. I think because ethanol causes vasodilation in smooth muscle that in moderate amounts it actually might make the CD patients feel better, however, doctors and researchs seem to have found conflicting information about the subject. Probably due to the fact that too much alochol can distroy your liver and they don't want you ingesting anything that might be harmful to your body.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting study and I especially like how they differentiated between more and less sugar drinks. I am wondering, since the patients knew which drink they were drinking, if their reactions were some what psychological. It would be really had to hide the identity of the different alcoholic drinks, so the subjects would know which drink had more sugar and which one doesn't and if they previously know that sugar worsens CD, then they can psychologically think that their condition is worsening after drinking the more sugary drink.
ReplyDeleteRasneet,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it doesn't mention if they hid the types of drinks, however, they could. While most people could differeniate between the different drinks they could do a blind test. They could put the drinks into colored containers and not tell them which drink was which. Personally I would only know what the Smirnoff Ice would taste like, I wouldn't be able to tell which was the white or red wine, elephant beer, or ethanol. I am sure they tried to control this variable by hiding the identities of the drinks.
I know that the pain factor in Crohn's disease patients may play a huge role in their desire to drink alcohol or not, but what about other factors that might be affected once they consume alcohol? After reading "Crohn's Disease and Alcohol" by Michael T. Sapko, he stated that drinking alcohol while on certain medications for CD may have detrimental side effects (as is the case for many different medications). One case in particular focused on a CD patient and the effects of alcohol binging while on a drug called Azathioprine. The result of this excessive intake of alcohol was peliosis hepatis. Peliosis hepatis is a potentially serious liver disease in which the liver cells become damaged and can lead to cirrhosis and fibrosis of the liver.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this is an extreme case of alcohol consumption while being afflicted with CD, it may play a role in a patient's decision of whether or not they want to drink alcohol while having Crohn's disease. Just something else to think about!
Article can be found at: http://www.whatscrohnsdisease.com/alcohol-and-crohns-disease.html
Holland,
ReplyDeleteThat article is very interesting and it is true anyone who is on medication and/or has a disease needs to do some serious research and consulting their doctors before drinking, smoking, etc. Alcoholism is a very deadly disease and it is actually the only drug that can kill you from the withdrawals. I agree that drinking alcohol in great amounts should be avoided by CD patients and everyone alike; however, this research I feel was just to look at the different types of alcoholic drinks CD patients might enjoy drinking occasionally and finding the best solution with minimal pain. As we have seen research tells us that having 3 glasses of red wine a week can be beneficial to our health, however, we know that binge drinking and becoming an alcoholic has detrimental effects no matter if you have an existing condition or not. I agree that the CD patients need to do research and finding the article you presented might keep them away from the occasional drink, binge, or alcoholism. Until we know the exact effects of alcohol on CD it is probably best they stay away from the substance and an occasional drink probably will not have harmful and long term effects but drinking in large amounts and/or for a long period of time is not healthy.
Kayla and Holland,
ReplyDeleteI like some of the things the both of you have said. Kayla, on Oct 20 9AM you said "I think because ethanol causes vasodilation in smooth muscle that in moderate amounts it actually might make the CD patients feel better, however, doctors and researchs seem to have found conflicting information about the subject." Vasodilation in this case may be too much of a good thing. While vasodilating, you allow more blood cells, including WBCs, into the tissue. Since we know this is sometimes part of the problem with patient's with IBD, this could be the source of the conflicting results. You're thoughts on the study though, are very interesting. It is true that there should be a control group with this study, and a blind study couldn't hurt either.
Holland, thank you for mentioning the complications of the liver that come with IBD. Chronic liver disease can be a serious complication of IBD that affects 5-15% of people with these diseases. Alcohol can also have effects on the Gastrointestinal tract lining which results in the symptoms that many of the patient's in the study likely described- nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding. As mentioned, there are some negative effects of alcohol and IBD medications. These also strain the liver. Drug can include antidepressants, aspiring, flagyl (metronidazole), narcotics (painkillers), and NSAIDs.
Knight C, Murray KF. Hepatobiliary associations with inflammatory bowel disease." Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2009 Dec;6:681-691. 18 Dec 2009.
Bode C, Bode JC. "Effect of alcohol consumption on the gut." Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol 2003 Aug;4:575-592. 18 Dec 2009.
Jen your new eyes on the issue of vasodilation caused by alcohol is nice. I agree that the vasodialation might be too much of a good thing. The increase in blood might relax the intestines and that might be the cause of some relief of cramping, but the rush of blood with white blood cells is most likely what is causing the pain as the white blood cells is causing increased inflammation of the intestines.
ReplyDelete