People living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are known to be at high risk of blood clots when admitted to hospital during a flare-up of their disease but now new research by scientists at The University of Nottingham has shown that those who are not admitted to hospital during flare-ups are also at risk.
The two main types of IBD are Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease which affect about one in every 250 people in the UK. The research published today in the medical journal, The Lancet, could eventually mean new advice for GPs and patients on how to reduce the risk of developing this dangerous side-effect of bowel disease.
IBD has been known to predispose sufferers to blood clots (thromboembolism) for some time. Clots in the leg veins have a mortality rate of six per cent, rising to as much as 20 per cent if the embolism is in the lungs. Previous research has suggested that most patients who develop thromboembolism do so when their IBD is 'active', i.e. has flared up and they are three times more likely to have a blood clot than non-sufferers. This has led to the use of anti-clotting drugs as standard care for patients with active IBD who are admitted to hospital.