FRIDAY, Oct. 16, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Asthma and food hypersensitivity (FH) at age 12 years are associated with an increased risk for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) at age 16 years, according to a study presented at UEG Week Virtual 2020, held Oct. 11 to 13.
Jessica Sjölund, M.D., from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and colleagues examined the association between allergy-related diseases during childhood and IBS at age 16 years in a population-based birth cohort study. Data were included from 2,770 adolescents with complete follow-up at age 16 years.
The researchers found that at 16 years of age, the prevalence of IBS was 6.4 percent. Compared with adolescents without IBS, those with IBS had an increased prevalence of asthma at 12 and 16 years, eczema at 16 years, and FH at 12 and 16 years. In crude analyses and after adjustment for sex, asthma and FH at 12 years were associated with an increased risk for IBS at 16 years. Asthma at age 1 to 2 years and eczema at 1 to 2, 4, and 8 years were associated with increased IBS risk at age 16 years, although the associations were not statistically significant. Significant associations were seen for asthma, eczema, and FH with concurrent IBS at 16 years; only the associations between asthma and FH remained significant after adjustment for sex.
“The associations found in this large study suggest there’s a shared pathophysiology between common allergy-related diseases and adolescent irritable bowel syndrome,” Sjölund said in a statement.
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