While better treatment options are being developed for patients with Crohn's, doctors still don't know what causes the disease. Russell Cohen, co-director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of Chicago Medicine, provides an update on current research.

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IRA FLATOW, HOST:

Up next, a look at what current research tells us about what causes inflammatory bowel disease and the potentially simple way to treat it.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as a million-and-half people in the U.S. suffer from IBD, which includes Crohn's, a condition that occurs when a person's immune system inappropriately responds to harmless cells or bacteria and destroys healthy tissue. And to treat the disease, most patients take medications to suppress their immune systems, but some don't work very well, and they can have really awful side effects.

Well, now a couple of new studies suggests ways to more directly attack the disease, one involving genetically engineering bacteria which might be put into yogurt, and you could eat it in the yogurt and, you know, treat yourself that way. Russell Cohen is professor of medicine and co-director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of Chicago. He joins us today from the Windy City.

Welcome to the program.

RUSSELL COHEN: Thank you very much.

FLATOW: Tell us about this bacteria, this new, genetically engineered bacteria.

COHEN: Well, you know, the bacteria themselves aren't new. They're a very common bacteria that you could find in yogurt or other products. But what these researchers did is they stuck some genes into the bacteria to make a particular type of protein that seems to protect the gut.

Continued here:
Genetic Clues May Help Unravel Cause of Crohn's

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