Happy day 6 of IBD Awareness Week! This post is not meant to be a downer or scare anyone, but rather to educate you all on the various extraintestinal manifestations of IBD. When most think of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, they think of the intestinal symptoms. However, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are not just bathroom diseases.
Extraintestinal Manifestations of IBD
Bone/Joints
- Peripheral arthralgia/arthritis
- Sacroiliitis
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Osteopenia/osteoporosis
Skin/Peripheral Vascular
- Erythema nodosum
- Pyoderma gangrenosum
- Sweet’s syndrome
- Vasculitis
- Skin cancer
Erythema nodosum
Eyes
- Uveitis
- Episcleritis
Uveitis
Mouth
- Aphthous ulcers (stomatitis)
- Pyostomatitis vegetans
Kidney
- Kidney stones
- Nephrolithiasis
- Tubulointerstitial nephritis
- Glomerulonephritis
- Amyloidosis
Hepatobiliary (Liver & Gallbladder)
- Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)
- Small-duct PSC
- Fatty liver disease
- Granulomatous hepatitis
- Autoimmune hepatitis
- Autoimmune pancreatitis
- Cholestasis
- Gallstone formation
- Liver injury
Sadly, this list is not exhaustive, and I did not include the complications that are a direct result of intestinal inflammation. While all these conditions are linked to IBD, not everyone with IBD will develop them. We can minimize our risk of many of these extraintestinal manifestations of IBD by controlling our intestinal inflammation. To control the intestinal inflammation, it is important to take the right medication for your body, fuel your body with nutrient dense foods that make you feel well, minimize stress, and listen to your body. If something doesn’t feel right, be sure to get it checked out by your doctor.
In case you missed my other IBD awareness posts this week:
Day 3: Complementary & Alternative Medicine
Vavricka SR, Schoepfer A, Scharl M, Lakatos PL, Navarini A, Rogler G. Extraintestinal Manifestations of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. 2015;21(8):1982-1992. doi:10.1097/MIB.0000000000000392.
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