http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/102620.php
Mayo Clinic Identifies Infection Risks For Patients With Inflammatory
Bowel Disease
Article Date: 03 Apr 2008 - 0:00 PDT
A new Mayo Clinic study finds that patients who are 50 or older and
take multiple immunosuppressive medications for inflammatory bowel
disease have a higher risk for developing infections. The study is
published in this month's issue of Gastroenterology.
More than 1 million Americans are believed to have ulcerative colitis
or Crohn's disease, the most common forms of inflammatory bowel
disease. These conditions inflame the lining of the digestive tract
and cause severe bouts of watery diarrhea and abdominal pain. The
cause of these conditions is not known, but the most common theory is
that the immune system of patients with inflammatory bowel disease
reacts abnormally to bacteria in the gut.
"Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are often treated with a
combination of immunosuppressive medications to help relieve
symptoms," says Edward Loftus, M.D. a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist
and an author of this study. "Since these medications compromise
immune reactions in the body, patients can develop what are called
op****tunistic infections, or infections from common organisms that
would not affect individuals with healthy immune systems."
Dr. Loftus and a team of Mayo Clinic researchers set out to identify
and quantify the risk factors that are associated with op****tunistic
infections in inflammatory bowel disease patients. They studied the
medical records of 300 patients with inflammatory bowel disease. One
hundred of these patients had contracted op****tunistic infections and
200 patients had no history of these infections. The team found that
patients who were age 50 or older were three times more likely to have
infections than younger patients. Additionally, patients on one
immunosuppressive medication were three times more likely to develop
op****tunistic infections than those on none. Patients on two or three
different immunosuppressive medications were 14 times more likely to
develop op****tunistic infections than those on none.
"This study shows that patients with inflammatory bowel disease who
are on immunosuppressive medications should have a low threshold for
seeking medical attention at any sign of infection, such as cough or
fever," says Dr. Loftus. "For the medical community, this is another
example of the need to be cognizant of the potential risks of
combination immunosuppressive therapies."
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