How Flight Leads to
Stomach Pain for People with IBD
The knowledge
that traveling causes stomach pain for individuals with IBD is not new;
however, it was previously thought that the source of this pain stemmed from ‘travel
stresses’ or infections that had been picked up along their journey. Researchers
from the Swiss IBD Cohort Study studied how low oxygen levels at 2,000m above
sea level affects patients with IBD. They determined that the lack of oxygen
activates inflammation which is the source of the pain that the patients with
IBD experience. Their study found similar results to tissue samples in lab that
produced an inflammatory response during oxygen starvation. The researchers concluded that journeys to
high altitude or flights are a risk factor for IBD flare-ups within 4 weeks of
traveling.
This new
information can be extremely beneficial for doctors and their patients with
IBD. Doctors will now be able to prescribe medications for to mitigate bowel
production of inflammation in hopes of preventing the flare-ups. Additionally, this study illustrates how
environmental factors impact inflammation in IBD.
Source:
Vavricka, Stephan,
Gerhard Rogler, Sandra Maetzler, Benjamin Misselwitz et al., "High
altitude journeys and flights are associated with an increased risk of flares
in inflammatory bowel disease patients." Journal
of Crohn's & Colitis(2013) Online.
Wow, I am truly curious now as to how oxygen levels in the blood have an impact on inflammation in the body. I am also curious if other inflammatory diseases 'worsen' or flare up when at high altitudes or areas with low oxygen (such as arthritis). This also brings me to think of other environmental factors that affect inflammation. For example, one of my co-workers is originally from Ohio and said that when she moved down to Arizona (a drier climate) her joint pain significantly improved.
ReplyDeleteThat is really interesting that you brought up the example about your friend, because at the end of the article there was a snippet about how the researchers found a correlation between heat waves and inflammation flare-ups in IBD patients. However, it wasn’t thoroughly explained and it didn’t seem to tie in so I did not include that in my original summary. I think this illustrates that the same environmental factors affect various inflammation-related diseases differently.
DeleteSource:
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Foerderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (2013, September 16). When flying leads to stomach pain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 29, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2013/09/130916090838.htm
It would be interesting to see how car trips to higher (or significant difference) elevations would have an effect. See if how the oxygen supplied and the concentrations are an issue.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I read the title to this article I automatically thought of the relationship of pressure and altitude. If you take a bag of chips and drive up a mountain it will blow up like a balloon. I was thinking of how IBD could be connected to this and though that the expansion of the intestines could cause irritations, which in turn cause inflammation. As I read through I realized that it’s the oxygen levels that cause this problem. I guess this makes sense that the body feels something is wrong since the oxygen levels in the blood are falling and responds with inflammation. I agree with you Ann it would be interesting to test and see how much of a difference it would make at the different altitudes while taking a trip up to the mountain or something!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that when there is oxygen depletion to the body, the body takes it as a stressor and so it will react to this stressor with inflammation, therefore people with IBD targets their intestines. Basically anytime the body or organs senses stress, one of the ways that it will react is by inflammation. I see how this article makes sense. Interesting post Raven.
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ReplyDeleteI’ve always thought that travel stress was the main cause of stomach pain when flying. It actually makes more sense that oxygen has a lot to do with it. I found this article that talks about the same research done in this journal. They explain that airplane cabins are pressurized to maintain an atmospheric pressure of about 2400m with oxygen pressure that is 25% less than sea level. This results in the passengers to be exposed to hypoxic conditions that cause the stomach pains. These conditions elevate the blood levels of the inflammatory mediator molecules IL-6 and C-reactive protein that activates inflammatory pathways. Its understandable that people with IBD would have flare ups of their disease because of the oxygen levels. Knowing this I still feel that maybe long hours and changes in diet might play a small factor into these flare ups. Great post Raven!
ReplyDeletehttp://newsatjama.jama.com/2012/05/23/recent-air-travel-may-be-associated-with-flare-of-inflammatory-bowel-disease-symptoms/