World-first research by Melbourne experts has found that frozen food may be the cause of a dramatic rise in immune disorders in children.
Studies reveal a bacteria that thrives in freezing temperatures is present in almost half of Victoria's cases of childhood chronic inflammatory bowel disease, News Limited newspapers said.
Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Royal Children's Hospital experts proved Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis is present in the digestive system in about half of newly diagnosed cases of Crohn's disease.
It is also found in cattle and it is the first time it has been linked to Crohn's disease in children.
More than 45,000 Australians diagnosed with the incurable disease and the youngest patient is only two.
The breakthrough research could relieve sufferers, who have difficulty eating and can have weight loss, diarrhoea, fatigue and stunted growth.
"The worldwide increase in Crohn's disease far exceeds anything that can be explained by a genetic predisposition alone," RCH head of gastroenterology Dr Tony Catto-Smith said.
"We know the bug is present in our environment. And 41 of the
100 CD cases have the bug present in blood, and biopsy suggests
some form of association. Whether this bacteria is the trigger
is
unknown, though."
