New Study Identifies Early Blood Test for Crohn’s Disease
In a groundbreaking new study, Danish and British researchers have found that Crohn’s disease, an incurable digestive disorder, can be identified up to eight years before onset through a simple blood test. Published in Cell Reports Medicine, the paper unveiled subtle changes in various minerals, blood cells, and proteins associated with inflammation in the blood, providing a potential early diagnostic tool for the disease.
Early Detection and Diagnosis
Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects the digestive tract, leading to painful ulcers, inflammation, and symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. Often mistaken for ulcerative colitis, it is a life-altering condition that may require extensive surgery in severe cases. However, this new research suggests that with early detection, the disease may be managed more effectively.
By analyzing a comprehensive Danish electronic health record database, the researchers were able to track changes in blood tests taken from individuals diagnosed with Crohn’s disease up to 10 years before the onset of symptoms. Comparing these results with blood tests from millions of people without the disease, the study revealed distinct patterns of change that preceded the clinical symptoms. This discovery opens up a new realm of possibility for early intervention and treatment.
Implications for Future Treatment
Dr. James Lee, a gastroenterologist at the Francis Crick Institute and a key member of the research team, remarked, “This tells us that the origin of these diseases occurs much earlier than we thought, which could lead to lifestyle modifications or treatment effective much earlier. It gives a great opportunity.” This sentiment was echoed by Sarah Slitt, the chief executive of Crohn’s & Colitis UK, who emphasized the significance of early diagnosis in finding the right treatment.
While these findings offer hope for the future, the researchers acknowledge the need for further refinement of the diagnostic algorithm and the exploration of potential treatment or prevention strategies. Nevertheless, this study marks a crucial step towards proactive management of Crohn’s disease, potentially reducing its impact on individuals’ lives.
Discover subtle patterns of changes in minerals, blood cells and proteins
Entered 2023.11.08 21:00 Views 440 Entered 2023.11.08 21:00 Modified 2023.11.08 14:56 Views 440
Crohn’s disease occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the intestines, causing painful ulcers, inflammation and symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhoea. [사진= 게티이미지뱅크]Crohn’s disease is an incurable disease that causes a chronic inflammatory response throughout the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus. A new study has shown that this disease, which has no cure once it has developed, can be diagnosed up to eight years before it starts through a blood test. This is what the British Guardian reported based on a paper by Danish and British researchers published in Cell Reports Medicine on the 7th (local time).
Crohn’s disease occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the intestines, causing painful ulcers, inflammation and symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Some doctors treat it as a disease similar to ulcerative colitis. Both are sometimes classified as ‘inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)’.
Some people with Crohn’s disease may need immediate life-changing surgery, such as an ostomy (a surgical opening to allow waste to be removed from the body through a colostomy bag). This type of damage builds up over a long period of time. Researchers at Aalborg University in Denmark and the Francis Crick Institute in the UK therefore hypothesized that there would be a clinical period before symptoms appeared and that these changes would likely be in the blood.
To verify this, the researchers analyzed the Danish electronic health record database. The standard blood tests taken from 20,000 people with IBD in the 10 years before diagnosis were closely analyzed and compared with blood tests from 4.6 million people without IBD.
As a result, it was confirmed that Crohn’s disease shows subtle changes in various minerals, blood cells, and proteins associated with inflammation starting 8 years before diagnosis, and ulcerative colitis shows subtle changes starting 3 years before diagnosis. Dr James Lee, a gastroenterologist at the Francis Crick Institute and a member of the research team, said: “This tells us that the origin of these diseases occurs much earlier than we thought, which could lead to lifestyle modifications or treatment effective much earlier. “It gives a great opportunity,” he said.
Most of these changes were within normal limits and were therefore not considered individually cause for concern. But the pattern was identified through an algorithm that tracked huge datasets of patient records.
The next step is to further refine the algorithm to see if it improves its ability to identify people at risk of developing IBD in the future and to investigate whether treatment or prevention can reduce this risk. Sarah Slitt, chief executive of Crohn’s & Colitis UK, a charity that helps people with IBD in the UK, said: “Speeding up the process of getting the right diagnosis can mean finding the right treatment. He welcomed it by saying, “It’s a pleasant process.”
You can check the paper through the following link (
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