Dietary risk factors for inflammatory bowel diseases in a high-risk population: Results from the Faroese IBD study

• Main Authors: T Hammer, S Nymand Lophaven, K Rubek Nielsen, M Skaalum Petersen, P Munkholm, P Weihe, J Burisch, E Lynge
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Figshare 2019
• Subjects: 110308 Geriatrics and Gerontology; FOS Clinical medicine; 111199 Nutrition and Dietetics not elsewhere classified; FOS Health sciences; 111299 Oncology and Carcinogenesis not elsewhere classified; 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified; FOS Biological sciences; Faroe Islands; Faroes
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25384/sage.c.4517858.v1; https://sage.figshare.com/collections/Dietary_risk_factors_for_inflammatory_bowel_diseases_in_a_high-risk_population_Results_from_the_Faroese_IBD_study/4517858/1

BackgroundThe Faroe Islands currently have the highest recorded inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) incidence in the world.ObjectiveThis study investigated environmental risk factors for IBD in the Faroese population.MethodsEnvironmental exposure data including lifestyle risk factors and neurotoxicants collected for over 30 years were retrieved from the Children's Health and the Environment in the Faroes (CHEF) cohorts including mainly mother–child pairs, with exposure data collected from pregnant mothers. For lifestyle risk factors, the incidence of IBD and ulcerative colitis (UC) was calculated as the rate ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) in exposed versus non-exposed persons. For neurotoxicants RR was calculated for persons with high versus low exposure.ResultsSix cohorts included 5698 persons with complete follow-up data and at least one exposure, and 37 were diagnosed with IBD. For pilot whale/blubber, the RR was 1.02 (95% CI, 0.48–2.18); RR of 1.01 for fish (95% CI, 0.35–2.91); and of the pollutants studied, a statistical significantly increased risk was found for 1,1,1,-trichloro-2,2-bis-(p-chlorophenyl) ethane (p,p'-DDT); RR 3.04 (95% CI, 1.12–8.30). RRs were 1.96 (95% CI, 1.03–3.73) for smoking and 1.10 (95% CI, 0.55–2.19) for alcohol intake.ConclusionThe high IBD incidence is unlikely to be caused by special dietary habits or by environmental pollutants.