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The mechanisms underlying the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remain poorly understood. Recurrent infectious gastroenteritis (IGE) plays a role in exacerbating IBD and may lead to the development of irritable bowel syndrome — itself, perhaps, a precursor to IBD. Might IGE increase the risk for IBD?
Researchers performed a retrospective nested case-control study to examine the risk for IBD (i.e., ulcerative colitis or Crohn disease) among individuals with documented antecedent IGE. They analyzed Defense Medical Surveillance System data on 3019 IBD patients and 11,646 age-, time-, and sex-matched controls with unrelated diagnoses; all subjects were active-duty military personnel with service between 1999 and 2006. Cases of IGE …