Environmental factors increasing the risk of activation and development of inflammatory bowel diseases

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a particularly troublesome disease that has a huge impact on the human digestive tract, mainly the intestine. These diseases manifest themselves as chronic, uncontrolled inflammation of the intestines, difficult to control, with periods of spontaneous exacerbations and remissions. Depending on the variety of symptoms present and their location in the human gastrointestinal tract, these diseases can occur in various forms. The most common: ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). The underlying cause of activation as well as subsequent development is not clearly defined, but it is known that these disorders are autoimmune. The pathogenesis of IBD is associated with chronic idiopathic, recurrent gastrointestinal inflammation. Exposure to many environmental factors, which are partially discussed in the following work, especially in people genetically predisposed to the development of these diseases, can activate the chronic inflammatory process of the intestine.