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Researchers believe that Crohn’s disease, a bowel disorder
that causes inflammation of the intestine leading to diarrhea,
pain, weight loss and fatigue, may be caused by a type of
bacteria that is passed to humans through milk.
The bacteria, mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP),
was found in some 92 percent of patients with Crohn’s
disease, compared to only 26 percent of patients in a control
group. MAP is present in about two percent of commercial pasteurized
milk.
As a solution, researchers recommend that people with Crohn’s
disease, or those who feel at risk, drink UHT milk, which
is pasteurized at higher temperatures that likely kill MAP.
The bacteria may also be associated with irritable bowel
syndrome (IBS), according to researchers.
Journal
Clinical Microbiology July 2003l;41(7):2915-23
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