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I is for inflammatory. You mention eczema. Eczema is inflammatory skin disease. You could name it ISD. Are there common factors in these two conditions? The answer is yes. Both the skin and the internal surface of the intestine depend for optimum health, and protection, on liquids which are delivered to the surfaces by ducts. The liquids contain a balance of electrolytes and also antimicrobial peptides. The liquids are known as mucus in the intestines and perspiration in the case of the skin. Both liquids are delivered via special ducts which make a final adjustment to the electrolytes as the liquids pass through the ducts, by reabsorbing excess electrolyte. For ease of understanding I have called these types of duct HAVARDS, meaning Habituating and Velocity Associated Reabsorbtive Ducts.
The balance of electrolytes and antimicrobial peptides is designed to control microbial activity on the surface of the skin or intestine, and to kill any microbe that attempts to enter a duct. If the balance of electrolytes is altered from the optimum then microbes can enter the duct. There is then an immune system response that blocks the duct to protect the body from entry by the microbe. Unfortunately this duct blockage does not block the output into the duct of mucus or perspiration. The pumping force behind the mucus or perspiration is sufficient to rupture the blocked duct so that mucus or perspiration exudes into the surrounding epithelial surface. This is the cause of the inflammation.
If you are still following me in this analysis, what we need to do next is to find the reason for the imbalance of electrolytes and antimicrobial peptides which ends up causing duct blockage. As stated, the ducts themselves adjust the electrolytes. If the output of mucus or perspiration is speeded up then the duct removes more electrolyte.
Why would the passage of mucus or perspiration speed up? Any number of reasons including infection, raise in temperature, spicy foods and stress. These reasons are normally temporary and in healthy persons the ducts will the reset to normal. But if the reason for speeding up continues for any time, the duct habituates to the higher speed, leading to a more permanent imbalance of electrolytes.
So, to understand conditions like IBD, we have to understand electrolyte imbalance. Mucus and perspiration are extracted directly from the circulating blood supply. Blood is kept at a constant consistency, known as osmolality. Osmolality is adjusted by adding and subtracting sodium chloride. This substance, if you like, is a thickener. Another thickener is glucose, which is also in the blood circulation. So if extra glucose is added to blood by consuming excess carbohydrate, including sugar, or taking little exercise, the sodium chloride is correspondingly reduced.
Sodium and chloride are electrolytes, and reducing them on a habitual basis will result in the blockage of ducts, followed by inflammation as in IBD and eczema. The level of circulating sodium in the body is kept up by aldosterone, produced by the adrenals. Overnight the level of aldosterone falls, and so the level of sodium falls, causing a number of problems to occur in the early hours of the morning.
I hope this analysis will help understanding of inflammatory conditions of the epithelial surfaces. It should confirm the imperative need to keep blood glucose under control to a normal level in chronic inflammatory conditions. This can be done by restricting intake of fast carbohydrates, including sugars, and by increasing exercise. My interest is in developing pills or skin patches that can modify the actions of the HAVARDS so that the inflammation no longer occurs. So far I have been very successful with horses and I hope that treatments for humans are not far away. You can read more at www.innatehealth.com and www.equiwinner.com and www.activesignal.com
Warren Ward
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I suffered with bouts just as you have described for 20 years.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with the inherited iron overload disease of hemochromatosis. Iron overload occurs through the gut. That being said, I have had it my whole life and have begun to wonder how much it has had to do with the IBS. I do know that since I eat no dietary iron (impossible, I know, but I eat no beef anymore) that the IBS has abated to when I inadvertently eat a preservative that I know triggers the cramps and repeated trips to the bathroom. I take no medication for the IBS now. I now have 690 units (it is one big, plump bag of blood) withdrawn every two weeks as treatment for the blood disorder. Let me tell you this--I had far rather have the IBS than this. My joints hurt constantly. I have knots on my knuckles where the iron has deposited. I have to have my kidneys and heart tested every six months. I have zilch energy. I could live with the IBS but this is far worse. I have since read that 67% of persons with IBS are also eventually diagnosed with hemochromotosis. Like me, it is often too late when they diagnosis is made, with damage already done to the body due to the iron overload. Tests are done for iron deficiency but not for overload because the symptoms are masked. This disease leads to congestive heart failure, kidney failure, arthritis, among other ailments, if untreated. Ask for the test.