Birth Control pill linked to greater risk of Crohns?

I actually have been a participant in the Nurses Health Study since it began in 1976 (I guess nurses are good at returning survey responses). Lots of long term data have been collected over the decades. I am currently in a side study about gestational diabetes and long term diabetes risk. Anyway, I digress.

 

The main point I got from this article was specifically that birth control pills did not cause Crohn's, but were more like a trigger for those genetically susceptible. I found it interesting that the same was not found true for UC. Another indicator that whileUC and Crohn's are both in the IBD spectrum, they have distinct disease paths.

 

Jan

Yes, sorry; I should have mentioned that in my original post: it causes a threefold increase in individuals who are already at risk genetically, but does not appear to directly cause Crohns. And yes, I also found it interesting that there was no apparent correlation between UC and the pill. (When I read the article headline, I was of course all ready to jump at that as a potential trigger in my case, since I developed acute UC at age 26, after I'd been taking the pill for a few years.).  There are some in medical profession who now feel that UC and Crohns are essentially the same disease, but with different presentations. They might be, but this study appears to offer further proof at how differently the two manifest.

 

 

And Crohn's, while "one" disease name, manifests in many different ways itself, moreso than with UC, which is still never exactly the same person to person, but less erratic than Crohn's disease.