Inflammatory Bowel Disease, How Does Alcohol Affect This?

Dr. Garth Swanson discusses how alcohol affects patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Dr. Swanson:
It’s a very good question. We are looking at a number of environmental factors here that may affect the course of inflammatory bowel disease, that is, affect when patients have times of active disease or disease flare and the times when they’re inactive.

Alcohol is a very interesting area to study in inflammatory bowel disease. Right now, we think moderate alcohol consumption such as wine or beer, that’s usually one to two glasses of alcohol, glass of wine or beer a day, is actually helpful in inflammatory bowel disease, but we are doing additional studies in that area to help determine if that is indeed true.

About Dr. Swanson, M.D., M.S.:
Dr. Garth Swanson, M.D., M.S., is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Digestive Diseases at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. His practice focuses on the diagnosis, management, and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Dr. Swanson has a master's degree in clinical research and his research interests include how environmental factors, such as alcohol and sleep, can affect gut inflammation and colonic bacteria.

Dr. Swanson received his medical degree from Medical University of South Carolina. He completed his residency and his fellowship at Rush University Medical Center. His special interests include inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and microscopic colitis.

Visit Dr. Swanson at Rush University Medical Center