British Study Crohn's Disease To Milk Bacteria

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British Study Links Crohn's

Disease To Milk Bacteria

By Richard Woodman

8-5-3

 

 

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists said on Wednesday they had found a

link between a common bowel disorder and a type of bacteria that can be

passed to humans in milk.

 

Professor John Hermon-Taylor and his team at St George's Hospital Medical

School in London said they had detected Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis

(MAP) bacteria in 92 percent of patients with Crohn's disease, but in only

26 percent of patients in a control group.

 

" The rate of detection of MAP in individuals with Crohn's disease is highly

significant and implicates this pathogen in disease causation, " they said in

the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

 

" The problems caused by the MAP bug are a public health tragedy, " said

Hermon-Taylor, who has sent a copy of the paper to Britain's Chief Medical

Officer Liam Donaldson.

 

Crohn's disease causes inflammation of the intestine and symptoms include

diarrhea, pain, weight loss and tiredness. About 100,000 people in Britain

alone are affected, with about 5,000 new cases reported every year.

 

The study was backed by the medical charity Action Research, which said

previous findings showed MAP is present in two percent of retail pasteurized

milk cartons.

 

" The discovery that the MAP bug is present in the vast majority of Crohn's

sufferers means it is almost certainly causing the intestinal inflammation, "

it said in a statement.

 

" Action Research does not recommend that anyone stops drinking milk.

However, for those individuals with Crohn's disease or their close relatives

who may feel particularly at risk, it may be sensible to start drinking UHT

milk.

 

" As UHT involves higher pasteurization temperatures, it is probable that MAP

is destroyed, " it said.

 

It called for Crohn's to be made a reportable disease, for more stringent

milk pasteurization, for tests for MAP in dairy herds, and procedures for

reducing MAP infection on farms.

 

Hermon-Taylor said an unexpected finding of the research showed that

patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may also be infected

with MAP.

 

" In animals, MAP inflames the nerves of the gut, " he said. " Recent work from

Sweden shows that people with IBS also have inflamed gut nerves. There is a

real chance that the MAP bug may be inflaming people's gut nerves and

causing IBS. "