Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) "suspected as a causative agent in Crohn's disease"

Hmmmmm... interesting.  My friend happened to stumble upon this on Wikipedia when she was reading about milk pasteurization (totally unrelated to Crohn's).  I thought that milk is supposed to do our body good.. Well, that's what they used to say.  And if this is a possible cause of Crohn's disease (because remember no one knows the cause of Crohn's), why are they not doing more research to find out for sure.  

Maybe this explains why children as young as 3 or 4 years old get Crohn's Disease.  The whole time they are sippin on their yummy warm milk in their bottle or sippy cup, they're possibly swallowing some MAP, which is a stubborn, resistant bastard.    That could explain where Crohn's gets it's stubbornness from.  

Just  thought this was something to think about. Feel free to leave opinions  :)

MAP causes Johne's disease in cattle and other ruminants, and it has long been suspected as a causative agent in Crohn's disease in humans;^[3] this connection is controversial.^[4]

Recent studies have shown that MAP present in milk can survive pasteurization, which has raised human health concerns due to the widespread nature of MAP in modern dairy herds. MAP survival during pasteurization is dependent on the D_72C-value of the strains present and their concentration in milk. It is heat resistant and is capable of sequestering itself inside white blood cells, which may contribute to its persistence in milk. It has also been reported to survive chlorination in municipal water supplies.

Even though MAP is hardy, it is slow growing and fastidious, which means it is difficult to culture. Many negative studies for MAP presence in living tissue, food, and water have used culture methods to determine whether the bacteria are present. Due to recent advances in our knowledge of the bacterium, some or all of these studies may need to be re-evaluated on the basis of culture methodology.

MAP infections, like with most mycobacteria, are difficult to treat. It is not susceptible to antituberculosis drugs (which can generally kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis), but can only be treated with a combination of antibioticssuch as rifabutin and a macrolide such as clarithromycin. Treatment regimens can last years.^[5][6]

[edit]Crohn's disease

MAP is recognized as a multi-host mycobacterial pathogen with a proven specific ability to initiate and maintain systemic infection and chronic inflammation of the intestine of a range of histopathological types in many animal species, including primates.^[7]

On the assumption that MAP is a causative agent in Crohn's disease, the Australian biotechnology company Giaconda is seeking to commercialize a combination of rifabutin, clarithromycin, and clofazimine as a potential drug therapy, called Myoconda, for Crohn's. As of April 2007, Giaconda received United States FDA IND approval for a new Phase 2/3 trial.^[8]

MAP has been found in larger numbers within the intestines of Crohn's disease patients^[9] than those with ulcerative colitis and healthy controls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycobacterium_avium_subspecies_paratuberculosis

Interesting article - IBD patients and the dangers of C diff

I thought this article was worth reading.  This info was found by London researchers.   

Bug linked to bowel disease deaths

(UKPA) – 1 day ago

A common hospital bug increases the risk of death for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) six-fold, research has shown.

Scientists called for all IBD patients to be screened on admission to hospital to protect them against Clostridium difficile (C diff).

IBD, which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, affects about 240,000 people in the UK.

The autoimmune conditions cause symptoms of abdominal pain and diarrhoea, which can be severe enough to warrant admission to hospital.

Researchers in London looked at NHS admission records from 2002 to 2008 and found a strong link between IBD, C diff, and death in hospital.

IBD patients infected with C diff were six times more likely to die than those who escaped the bug. After 30 days, their mortality rate was as high as 25%.

The findings, reported in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, also showed that IBD patients with C diff had longer stays in hospital and were almost twice as likely to need gastrointestinal surgery.

Typically, they remained in hospital for 26 days, compared with five days for patients without C diff.

Dr Sonia Saxena, one of the researchers from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, said: "Hospitals must do everything they can to control infections such as C difficile. We are asking for these high-risk patients to be screened for C difficile proactively on admission to hospital so that if they are exposed, they can be diagnosed and treated more quickly."

Co-author Dr Richard Pollok, from St George's Healthcare NHS Trust, said: "At St George's Hospital, we have seen a 70% reduction in hospital-acquired infections after implementing a range of control measures, such as careful handwashing and reduced use of broad spectrum antibiotics. But we need to do more to protect vulnerable patients such as those with IBD."

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