Symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease after scientists made major breakthrough searching for cause

Unfortunately, it’s true that sometimes the cause of your ‘upset tummy’ or ‘sore belly’ could be something more serious than that dodgy takeaway you ate the night before.

When it's severe and regular, it could be that you suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). And while it’s not totally clear what causes it, scientists have made a major breakthrough in searching for a reason.

This could lead to a change in life for those who suffer from IBD with the main types being Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

While symptoms may be similar, it is differently to the perhaps more widely-understood irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

IBD can cause severe stomach pain. (Getty Stock)

Symptoms of IBD

It’s true that the symptoms of IBD overlap with IBS but it is rather distinct and a diagnosis is only made if there is inflammation in the bowels.

The NHS list the main symptoms of IBD as:

· Diarrhoea that lasts longer than four weeks

· Stomach pain or cramps

· Blood or mucus in your poo

· Bleeding from your bottom

· Losing weight without trying

· Feeling tired all the time

When to see a GP

It’s important to see your GP if you’ve been having diarrhoea that lasts longer than a week or if you are experiencing tummy pain or bloating that won’t go away or keeps returning.

You should also get seen if you have blood or mucus in your poo or notice that you’ve been losing a lot of weight without trying to.

However if you experience any of the following, you should call 999 or go to A&E:

· Severe tummy pain

· Non-stop bleeding from your bottom

· A lot of blood when you go to the toilet, e.g the toilet water turns red or you can see large blood clots

· Vomiting blood or poo, or if your sick looks like coffee grounds or soil

Illustration of ulcerative colitis, a form of IBD. (Getty Stock)

Scientists’ breakthrough

While trying to find out where IBD originates from, researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and University College London found a weak spot in the DNA of those suffering from the condition.

They revealed this was present in 95 percent of sufferers, and now reckon they’ve finally got to the bottom of the cause.

The research, detailed in Nature, said scientists realised a particular section of DNA - dubbed an 'enhancer' - acts similarly to a volume control for nearby genes.

But this booster was only seen in immune cells, or white blood cells, (known as macrophages) - where it amplified a gene called ETS2 and dually raised the risk of IBD.

Researchers found the 'enhancer' section of DNA is the macrophage's 'master regulator' of inflammation after conducting thorough genetic analysis, which group leader Dr James Lee said sits 'at the top of the pyramid'.

From the genetic mechanisms of disease laboratory at Francis Crick, he added: "This is undoubtedly one of the central pathways that goes wrong for people to get inflammatory bowel disease. It is the process by which one of the most important cells that causes inflammatory bowel disease goes wrong."

Dr Lee dubbed it a ‘holy grail’ discovery as he explained drugs already approved for other illnesses including cancer were able to calm this excessive inflammation - but they need to be tweaked to perfection to target the macrophages.

It’s hoped clinical trials will be underway within five years, meaning there could be a huge boost in the treatment available to those with IBD.

However, it's noted that genetic susceptibility is still only just a factor in the illness as it takes something to trigger the development of IBD, with diet and antibiotic use all implicated.