A hope for Chrone's Disease

    For years the medical community has been baffled on why Crohn’s Disease actually occurs. Crohn’s Disease affects approximately 565,000 people in the U.S. For years, it has been hypothesized that the body mistakes the digestive tract as an invader, hence the immune system attacks healthy cells. Which causes inflammation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss and fatigue amongst many other symptoms.

    This week studies have found proof that Crohn’s Disease is in fact the by product of a fungus and two bacteria.  Research conducted by Mahmoud A. Ghannoum, professor and director of the Center for Medical Mycology at Case Western Reserve and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center discovered Serratia Marcescens, E. Coli, and the fungus Candida Tropicalis  as the main cause for the inflammatory response. When the bacteria and fungus interact they produce a slime which covers organs causing inflammation.

    The experiment tested a variety of strangers and family members. This was important because family members would have similar genetics and dietary habits. ( two things that also effect Chrone's) Compared to family Serratia Marcescens, E. Coli, and the fungus Candida Tropicalis were much higher in the person with Chrone's. The strangers also showed a similar result as the rest of the family having a low percentage of these bacteria or fungus.

    Discovering the root cause of the issue will allow much better treatment of Chrone's Disease in the future. Up to this point treatment has been limited by what little they knew about Chrone's. Surgery was a main option and the medications were often a mix of steroids that brought with it many other issues.  In the years to come the research team hopes to form new medications and probiotics to help patients cope with the unpleasant symptoms of Chrone's Disease.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/crohns-disease-cause_us_57e40374e4b0e28b2b52a67c
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/09/13/inflammatory-bowel-disease.aspx
http://www.health.com/crohns-disease/crohns-disease-fungus
http://knowthecause.com/index.php/health-blog/doctors-and-trade-professionals/2393-fungi-may-aggregate-crohn-s-disease

Inchworm

 

Inchworms are the larvae of Geometridae Moths. They are about 1 in long and make an inching/undulating movement since they have no legs in the middle. Which is how they get there name. There are about 1,200 types of moths in the Geometridae family. They have 3 pairs of true legs in the front of their body but only 2 prolegs. There bodies are hairless and they often have projections for camouflage and when bothered stand up to resemble the plant they are on. The majority of them are nocturnal and are attracted by light however there are exceptions. Seen in this picture is the digestive tract of an inchworm at 10x objective