Doctors May Have Found Cause of Crohn's Disease

Experts believe they have finally made steps towards isolating the cause of Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel condition that is notoriously hard to treat. The hope is that now that they have found the cause of the chronic condition, they will be able to develop more effective ways to manage and even cure the disease.

A new study has identified two bacteria that interact with a specific fungus and may be a major factor in the development of Crohn's.

This may be great news for the nearly 565,000 people in the U.S. who suffer from the condition.

According to the Huffington Post, the E. coli bacteria contributes to Crohn's symptoms, and this study seems to show that bacteria Serratia marcescens and the fungus Candida tropicalis are likely at fault as well.

Of course, the medical condition is more complex than a single factor.

"Crohn's disease has other factors that impact it: Number one is genetics and number two is environmental factors, such as what people eat," the study's senior author Mahmoud A. Ghannoum explained.

The new study took that into account and studied family members with Crohn's as well as their relatives without the condition in order to eliminate a lot of these variables.

The researchers are hopeful that they will be better equipped to tackle the disease now that they have this information.

"For patients, this is a very good start because we now understand more about the disease and how we can interfere with it," Ghannoum said.