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Comment by ziggy_star | Hacker News Reader

The correlation does not mean the microplastics are the thing causing IBD. It probably means they are exasperating it for various reasons. Goddamit.

Incidentally so do things like poppy seeds.

I got hit with this at 10 years old. Suspiciously to me after returning from a year in the US, before that there was no sign of any problems. IBD presents all over the world and I'm guessing predates the microplastics phenomena.

The other interesting correlation I know of is a lack of exposure to dirty things as a toddler. I've sort of given up any hope that it will be figured out in my lifetime despite occasional wiggles of hope from articles like this.

Generally in the community people theorize all kinds of things about diet and some are lucky to reach and stay in remission by eating a narrow diet that agrees with them - but what exactly that is varies wildly across individuals. I've never found a common thread.

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> The correlation does not mean the microplastics are the thing causing IBD. It probably means they are exasperating it for various reasons.

It doesn't even necessarily mean that microplastics are contributing to the harm. It could be that existing disease impairs the body's ability to eliminate microplastics.

Regardless, following the precautionary principle, we should treat them as a foreign toxin until the evidence suggests otherwise.

IBS is not IBD

IBS = irritable bowel syndrome

IBD = inflammatory bowel disease

IBD includes conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Cohn's disease

IBS and IBD are very different in mechanism and symptoms

For those of you who have decided to down vote, the person I'm replying to edited their post silently. It previously did not contain the acronym "IBD" but rather "IBS"

This is absolutely true I was throttled and some stalkers flag and hide my posts replying to you trying to confirm this which is unbelievably gross. :/

I hope you see this I'm sorry if it bummed you out. My apologies.

100% agree. I've found no theory as to what correlates with my particular issues: hives and elevated heart rate when consuming processed food/gluten/I don't know what over a long period and also difficulty sleeping. If I go pure low-carb, I'm fine, even if I consume large amounts of sugar. However, stress can also induce it even if I am eating properly. Additionally, evaporation of sweat also causes it in certain cases.

Nobody seems to have any idea what the issue is, but I've learned to manage it by controlling diet and stress basically. I'm still not 100% why/how it happens.

I've learned that these sorts of issues may be something science will never figure out for me since they focus on populations rather than the individual. I expect in 10 years some studies at some point will start isolating some of these triggers as they become more prevalent. I've talked with a few people who've had similar issues.

> Generally in the community people theorize all kinds of things about diet and some are lucky to reach and stay in remission by eating a narrow diet that agrees with them - but what exactly that is varies wildly across individuals. I've never found a common thread.

It also really looks like a methodology problem on the medical science side to me, statistics easily nullify important data when variables are difficult to control.

> IBD presents all over the world and I'm guessing predates the microplastics phenomena.

IBD occurs in many parts of the world, but it is a disease of modernity. It is highly correlated with GDP. In particular, Chron’s and UC are basically absent among hunter gatherers and in very poor countries. (And researchers have good reasons to think this is not a measurement error.)

I would imagine the prevalence of microplastics in developing countries is just as high (or higher) though. So the GDP argument isn’t particularly supportive of a microplastics explanation.

Personally I doubt think it's just as high. But in any case, I'm not arguing for microplastics in particular as an explanation, just against the suggestion that IBD is some timeless human invariant that couldn't be attributed to peculiarities of the modern environment. (I find the hygiene-hypothesis-like explanations a little more compelling, although I don't have strong beliefs.) If the commenter wants to argue against microplastics as a cause, he needs to make claims like the one you made.

> The correlation does not mean the microplastics are the thing causing IBS. It probably means they are exasperating it for various reasons.

As mentioned in the abstract, it could also be that IBD exacerbates the retention of MPs.

I’m no expert but is fecal transplant not an option? I think there is a link with the microbiome, right?

That is a thing. I met a mother-daughter duo, they'd travel with a little bag and disappear to do that and it wasn't a big deal and they claimed results.

Really no idea, there are quite of few of these potential treatments, people actively try and hack it. It depends on the specific situation what is appropriate to try.

I'm in full remission for a very long time already against all odds. It completely ruined my childhood and I'm thankful for everyday and live with it as a sword of Damocles like so many others.

There are many on-going studies but so far none have found a protocol that clearly and reliably improves IBD. Many people find fecal transplants compelling because they seem safe and have a plausible (albeit vague) mechanism of action, a gastroenterologist emphasized to me: at least one (elderly) person has died from a fecal transplant and another got dangerously sick; they are not without risk.

Lots of research into FODMAPs

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