Can My Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Improve?

The severity of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis can fluctuate significantly over a period of days, weeks, and months without any apparent reason. Just as a flare can occur in someone who has been quite stable for many months or years, the symptoms of disease can mysteriously improve without any intervention on the part of the doctor and without an obvious cause. Individuals with mild disease may be able to afford to take a chance and wait a little while to see if their situation improves without treatment. That being said, it is unusual for someone with severe disease to improve without any treatment.

 

 

Mild flares of IBD can sometimes go away without any additional treatment. This phenomenon has been well shown in clinical studies where patients with IBD receive placebo (inactive medication) as a means of comparing a new treatment to no treatment at all. Interestingly, the studies have shown that anywhere from 5% to 30% of patients treated only with placebo will experience improvement. The improvement is not necessarily complete, leading to remission, but it does indicate that the disease can improve without medication.

 

There have been a number of theories proposed to explain this spontaneous improvement, but no one knows for sure what factors are behind it. Improvements that occur without medication could be due to changes in diet or stress levels, or possibly just a natural day-to-day or week-to-week fluctuation in an individual's immune response. Researchers are working to determine why disease flares occur and how spontaneous improvements occur. This information may help to develop new ways of preventing disease flares and treating IBD.