Using Herbs and Diet to Beat Crohn's Disease
By Bone, Kerry

Crohn's disease is a chronic autoimmune disease of unknown cause,
characterized by inflammation of the gut wall triggered by an attack
from the immune system. The immune system, which normally attacks
invading viruses or bacteria, is somehow stimulated to attack the
body's own tissue (in this case, the gut wall). A recent survey found
there has been no change in the results from conventional treatment
for Crohn's (such as drugs) in the past 40 years.1 But there is hope.
Recent medical research has identified several important factors that
might trigger or feed the inflammation in Crohn's disease. In my
experience, when herbs and dietary change are used to control or
neutralize these factors, the inflammation is more or less
alleviated.

There seems to be a genetic cause to Crohn's disease. The genetic
defect linked to Crohn's disease actually gives us an insight into its
cause. The defect is in a gene that encodes the protein known as CARD
15.2 CARD 15 is involved in recognizing and activating the immune
response to bacteria. So, a poor immune response to gut microbes could
be a key piece in the jigsaw puzzle. This highlights a common
misunderstanding about autoimmune disease. It's not due to a strong
immune system that is too powerful. In fact, autoimmune disease, as
illustrated above, most likely results when there is some weakness in
the immune system. Under-responsiveness in one part of the immune
system might lead to an excessive response in another part.

Johne's disease, which occurs in cattle, is very similar to Crohn's
disease. The main difference is that the cause of Johne's disease is
known: a close relative of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis.
This is known as Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis or
MAP for short. In 1984, a group of Italian researchers began a major
scientific controversy when they found MAP in the intestinal tissue of
patients with Crohn's disease.3 The implication was that, like Johne's
disease, Crohn's disease also was caused by the presence of this micro-
organism in the gut. Now, more than 20 years later, the evidence
implicating MAP in Crohn's disease is strong.4 One factor behind this
proof is the use of sophisticated gene techniques to find MAP, which
are similar to those used by crime labs to identify victims or
criminals.

Where does the MAP in humans come from? It seems it originates from
consuming the milk from cows infected with Johne's disease.
Pasteurization may not kill this organism, and this has led British
food authorities to advise dairy farmers not to release the milk from
infected cows into the human food supply.

The amount of MAP found in Crohn's disease patients is not high, so
whether the inflammation is directly caused by the bacterium or by the
body's excessive immune response to its presence is not clear. But
what is clear is that some respected medical authorities are now
suggesting that eliminating MAP might improve the disease.5

Other gut bacteria such as E. coli have been implicated in Crohn's and
may contribute to the chronic disease process.6 A leaky gut probably
enables the breakdown products of such bacteria to enter the general
circulation, further stirring up the immune system.7

Crohn's Disease and Diet

It might seem obvious that diet could be an important factor in
Crohn's disease, since it is after all a chronic inflammation of the
digestive tract. This is backed up by the well-known observation that
Crohn's patients placed on an elemental diet (food broken down into
its basic components such as amino acids, sugars, vitamins, etc)
improve substantially.8 Clinical studies using elimination diets found
that symptomatic improvement resulted when patients were placed on
diets free of gluten, dairy products and yeast.9

The yeast aspect is particularly fascinating. Several studies have
found that Crohn's disease patients have antibodies in their blood
directed towards baker's or brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae).
10 In fact, these antibodies are so characteristic their presence is
now used as a diagnostic test for Crohn's.11 While some scientists
think this association is of no consequence, others feel removal of
yeast from the diet could be beneficial.12

Herbs for Crohn's Disease

One of the key herbs for Crohn's disease is the Ayurvedic herb known
as boswellia. The safety and efficacy of a boswellia extract was
compared against mesalazine for the treatment of 102 patients with
active Crohn's disease in an eight-week randomized, double- blind
study.13 Mesalazine is a synthetic drug used as the standard anti-
inflammatory treatment in Crohn's disease. The primary clinical
outcome measured was the change in the Crohn's Disease Activity Index.
After therapy with Boswellia extract (3.6 g per day), the average
index was reduced by 90, compared to a reduction of only 53 for the
mesalazine group (4.5 g per day).

Other herbs useful for Crohn's disease include garlic, golden seal and
some essential oils (oregano and anise) to reduce pathogenic bacteria
in the gut such as MAP. Either fresh, crushed garlic cloves or garlic
powder product can be used. The latter mimics in the digestive tract
what happens when you crush a fresh clove. In my practice, I use a
bowel flora-rebuilding protocol which is based around these herbs.

The final herb I would recommend is echinacea - a good-quality product
made from the root and high in alkylamides. I know this is
controversial, but I have found this herb to be very beneficial in
Crohn's disease. Remember that the genetics suggest Crohn's disease
sufferers have poor immunity against gut pathogens such as MAP.

Finally, a key aspect of therapy is to follow a strict diet. The diet
should be, at the very least, diary- and yeast-free, but other food
intolerances also might need to be identified and dealt with.

Case History

"Anne," a 39-year-old woman, suffered from Crohn's disease for 24
years. Lately (past 2.5 years), it was out of control. Anne had a
stricture two inches from the rectum which made it difficult to
control her bowel motions. Her main symptom was almost continuous
diarrhea. Other symptoms included mouth ulcers, occasional high
temperatures and chronically blocked sinuses. Conventional medications
at the time of the first consultation were mesalazine 1,500 mg/day,
oral prednisone (tapering off) and prednisone enemas daily. The enemas
were needed because of the stricture and helped to control her bowel
motions.

Anne was placed on the following nutritional and herbal protocol:

* Golden seal (1,500 mg per day) and slippery elm powder on a regular
basis (she could not tolerate garlic);

* Tablets containing Echinacea angustifolia root (600 mg) and
Echinacea purpurea root (675 mg), three per day;

* Tablets containing boswellia (1,200 mg), turmeric (2,000 mg), celery
(1,000 mg) and ginger (300 mg), four per day; and

* A dairy- and yeast-free diet.

After five month's treatment there was great symptomatic improvement.
Anne had one relatively normal bowel motion per day. There were no
mouth ulcers and the high temperatures had gone. Anne still was on her
conventional medications, but the enemas were being tapered off and
the prednisone was stopped.

After three years of treatment, this patient has no symptoms. Her only
conventional medication is 1,000 mg/day mesalazine. Anne has been
transformed from semi-invalid status to a lively outgoing person, full
of energy and life.

Editor's Note: For a complete list of references, go to www.nutritional
wellness.com.

By Kerry Bone, BSc (hons.), Dip. Phyto

Bio

Kerry Bone is a practicing herbalist; co-founder and head of research
and development at MediHerb; and principal of the Australian College
of Phytotherapy. Kerry also is the author of several books, including
Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy and The Essential Guide to
Herbal Safety.

Story from REDORBIT NEWS:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/display/?id=1417629

Published: 2008/06/05 03:00:00 CDT

© RedOrbit 2005

Article Link:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1417629/using_herbs_and_diet_to_beat_crohns_
disease/#