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First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

florey.edu.au

111–120 of 129 posts

Re: First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IBDs like Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis have increased in incidence (controlling for better diagnosis) as countries develop[1] [2]. People in developing countries have a lower rate of incidence, and if they move to developed countries, the incidence remains low. However, their children, born in developed countries, experience the higher rate of incidence. Something about being a child in a developed country increase…

It's all about the gut microbiome

Yeah. And I suspect diet. There has been some speculation that the "safe" levels of herbicide are not actually safe for beneficial gut flora.

Re: First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but that's one drug, which does increase your risk of infection according to your links. There are other newer drugs for which we don't have 20 years of data. The best thing is if we could target these drugs to only be activated in areas of active inflammation.

Yes, we have less data on newer drugs, but TNF inhibitors are currently the go-to medication for many autoimmune disorders, including Crohn's and UC. Infection risk is currently the case with all current medications that act on the immune system. In all cases we are merely suppressing some pathway where the end goal is to reduce the immune response. ThatMs really the best we can do until we actually identify the caus…

Yes. My point is that we should try to get the drugs to home to the inflamed regions somehow.

Re: First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

#113
post #85

> Australia has among the highest incidence of Crohn’s disease in the world We really need to look at supply chain and environmental factors.

IBDs like Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis have increased in incidence (controlling for better diagnosis) as countries develop[1] [2]. People in developing countries have a lower rate of incidence, and if they move to developed countries, the incidence remains low. However, their children, born in developed countries, experience the higher rate of incidence. Something about being a child in a developed country increase…

I know this is contentious, but one factor here that lines up with the timeline you've presented is: vaccines.

Children are given far more of them than adults. People moving from developing countries to developed countries won't receive as many. But if they have kids in a developed country, their kids will get a ton.

Re: First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

#114
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most of these claims are BS, but I've met several people who have claimed to heal their own inflammatory diseases through non-medical practice to help regulate their vagus nerve. I know for me, these types of practices seem to help manage my symptoms. So maybe there is some connection.

That makes more sense for IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) than it does for IBD (inflammatory bowel disease). IBS is caused by the gut-brain nervous system acting up due to stress, and vagal maneuvers forcibly turn off the fight-or-flight response from the nervous system. On the other hand, IBD is caused by your immune system attacking itself in the gut, and the T cells aren't really connected to the nervous system in…

There could still be a link between the nervous system and IBD, too.

When I was diagnosed with UC, the inflammation perfectly correlated with a portion of the colon that was connected to a particular nerve (I can remember which - it was a few years ago by now).

I dismissed it as BS at the time, but a physiologist once asked me where I feel the physical sensation when I am stressed or anxious, and I said my gut. He thought that was very interesting (since I had recently been diagnosed with UC). I thought nothing of it, but maybe there is a link. (My wife, in contrast, feels anxiety and stress as a feeling in her chest.)

More and more, scientific research is pointing towards how all the systems in the body are connected one way or another, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if there is also a link between IBD and the nervous system.

Re: First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

#115
post #85

> Australia has among the highest incidence of Crohn’s disease in the world We really need to look at supply chain and environmental factors.

I think nicotine can also suppress UC, so smoking rates might also be a factor.

Re: First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People won't log all the food they eat, but supermarkets actually have data on what food people buy . So correlating that data with people's health could be very interesting! I don't think that has much chance getting past an IRB though.

Youd have to somehow control for waste and individual consumption within a household, which would be very difficult!

Not for statistical studies across a population.

Re: First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's all about the gut microbiome

Yeah. And I suspect diet. There has been some speculation that the "safe" levels of herbicide are not actually safe for beneficial gut flora.

> And I suspect diet

Of course, your diet influences your gut health

Re: First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

#118
post #85

> Australia has among the highest incidence of Crohn’s disease in the world We really need to look at supply chain and environmental factors.

IBDs like Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis have increased in incidence (controlling for better diagnosis) as countries develop[1] [2]. People in developing countries have a lower rate of incidence, and if they move to developed countries, the incidence remains low. However, their children, born in developed countries, experience the higher rate of incidence. Something about being a child in a developed country increase…

> It's also interesting to note many food allergies have increased in prevalence in the last 30 years

Wonder how much of this is due to the relatively recent trend of having dual incomes with both parents working?

Cause and effect might be hard to tease out but it’s looking like there are some drastic differences in babies that were born early in the pandemic:

> only about 5% of the lockdown babies had developed a food allergy at age one, compared to 22.8% in the pre-COVID group.

> Of the lockdown babies only 17% needed an antibiotic by the age of one. In the pre-pandemic group, 80% of infants had taken antibiotics by 12 months

Can’t find a link to the original study at the moment but here’s a secondary source:

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-pandemic-babies-develope...

Re: First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IBDs like Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis have increased in incidence (controlling for better diagnosis) as countries develop[1] [2]. People in developing countries have a lower rate of incidence, and if they move to developed countries, the incidence remains low. However, their children, born in developed countries, experience the higher rate of incidence. Something about being a child in a developed country increase…

It's all about the gut microbiome

Probably not eating enough dirt early on.

Re: First-in-human implantation of bionic device to halt Crohn's disease (2023)

#120
post #26
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most of these claims are BS, but I've met several people who have claimed to heal their own inflammatory diseases through non-medical practice to help regulate their vagus nerve. I know for me, these types of practices seem to help manage my symptoms. So maybe there is some connection.

The vagus nerve sits inside the collarbone right next to the carotid artery. As a doctor told me once, if you're able to physically stimulate your vagus nerve, you need to get to A&E posthaste, lol

IIRC there's a stage 2 Test device that uses vagus nerve stimulation through the tongue to attenuate tinnitus:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8120162/

I think it's called the Susan Shore device, and nowadays is the main hope for curing tinnitus to some degree.

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