Dietary risk factors for inflammatory bowel diseases in a high‐risk population: Results from the Faroese IBD study
Open accessAbstract
Background: The Faroe Islands currently have the highest recorded inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) incidence in the world. Objective: This study investigated environmental risk factors for IBD in the Faroese population. Methods: Environmental exposure data including lifestyle risk factors and neurotoxicants collected for over 30 years were retrieved from the Children's Health and the Environment in the Faroes (CHEF) cohorts including mainly mother–child pairs, with exposure data collected from pregnant mothers. For lifestyle risk factors, the incidence of IBD and ulcerative colitis (UC) was calculated as the rate ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) in exposed versus non‐exposed persons. For neurotoxicants RR was calculated for persons with high versus low exposure. Results: Six cohorts included 5698 persons with complete follow‐up data and at least one exposure, and 37 were diagnosed with IBD. For pilot whale/blubber, the RR was 1.02 (95% CI, 0.48–2.18); RR of 1.01 for fish (95% CI, 0.35–2.91); and of the pollutants studied, a statistical significantly increased risk was found for 1,1,1,‐trichloro‐2,2‐bis‐(p‐chlorophenyl) ethane (p,p'‐DDT); RR 3.04 (95% CI, 1.12–8.30). RRs were 1.96 (95% CI, 1.03–3.73) for smoking and 1.10 (95% CI, 0.55–2.19) for alcohol intake. Conclusion: The high IBD incidence is unlikely to be caused by special dietary habits or by environmental pollutants.
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The exceedingly high incidence of ulcerative colitis in the Faroe Islands was explained by a genetic shift in a stable, geographically enclosed society combined with unique environmental exposures.
“Instead, the exceedingly high incidence of ulcerative colitis was explained by a genetic shift in a stable, geographically enclosed society in conjunction with unique environmental exposures within the population46.”
From The four epidemiological stages in the global evolution of inflammatory bowel disease (2021) · cites this paper as [46]
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- Authors
- Hammer, T., Lophaven, S. N., Nielsen, K. R., Petersen, M. S., Munkholm, P., Weihe, P., Burisch, J., & Lynge, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Larix A/S Herlev Denmark
- Medical Centre National Hospital Tórshavn Faroe Islands
- University of the Faroe Islands (FO)
- Region Zealand (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Lynge, E
- ORCID
- Venue
- United European Gastroenterology Journal
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-08
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 924-932
- ISSN
- 2050-6406 (ISSN-L)
- 2050-6414
- PMC
- PMC6683641
- OpenAlex
- W2945550760
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 1.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- United European Gastroenterology Journal (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- Granskingarráðið
- European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation
- Aage & Johanne Louis-Hansens Foundation
- Danish Colitis-Crohn Patients Organisation
- Beckett Foundation
- Faroese Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Keywords
- inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, dietary risk factors, environmental risk factors, fish consumption, p,p'-DDT, neurotoxicants, smoking, alcohol consumption, Faroese population, IBD incidence
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Alcohol Drinking, Child, DDT, Denmark, Diet, Environmental Pollutants, Female, Humans, Life Style, Male, Middle Aged, Pregnancy, Risk Factors, Smoking, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Incidence, Seafood, Young Adult
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