More Evidence in Crohn's-Appendix Link

A study done in Sweden and Denmark showed that people who have had an appendectomy are at a greater risk of developing Crohn's disease than those people who still have their appendix.

The researchers followed 709,000 patients who had appendectomies between 1964 and 2003. The study showed that 1655 of those patients developed Crohn's disease. Appendectomy patients were one and one-half times more likely to develop Crohn's disease.

However, the authors have a hypothesis about this increased risk. They speculate that the signs of appendicitis may actually be the Crohn's disease presenting itself for the first time. The Crohn's may initially be mistaken for appendicitis, resulting in an increased number of appendectomies in Crohn's patients. More research is needed to discern if this is actually the case.

More about appendectomies and IBD:
IBD and Your Appendix

_{Source:
Gilaad G Kaplan, Bo V Pedersen, Roland E Andersson, Bruce E Sands, Joshua Korzenik and Morten Frisch. The risk of developing Crohn's disease after an appendectomy: A population-based cohort study in Sweden and Denmark. Gut Sept 2007. 12 Sept 2007.}