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Inflammatory Bowel Disease (cont.)

Prevention

No known dietary or lifestyle change prevents the development of inflammatory bowel disease.

Dietary manipulation may help symptoms in persons with ulcerative colitis, and it actually may help reduce inflammation in Crohn disease. However, there is no evidence that consuming or avoiding any particular food item causes or avoids flare-ups of IBD.

Smoking cessation is the only lifestyle change that may benefit persons with Crohn disease. Smoking has been linked to increases in the number and severity of flare-ups of Crohn disease. Smoking cessation occasionally is sufficient to make a person with refractory (not responding to treatment) Crohn disease go into remission.



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Inflammatory Bowel Disease »

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an idiopathic disease, probably involving an immune reaction of the body to its own intestinal tract.

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