{"title":"Editorial: Cumulative Impact of Clinical Disease Activity, Biochemical Activity and Psychological Health on the Natural History of Inflammatory Bowel Disease During 8 Years of Longitudinal Follow‐Up","authors":"Ben Massouridis, Akhilesh Swaminathan","doi":"10.1111/apt.70086","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.70086","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":121,"journal":{"name":"Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143672283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christy Riggott, Keeley M. Fairbrass, David J. Gracie, Alexander C. Ford
<p>We would like to thank Drs Massouridis and Swaminathan for their editorial dealing with our article and welcome this opportunity for further discussion [<span>1, 2</span>]. Bi-directionality of gut–brain axis communications has been highlighted consistently in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with both a high prevalence of symptoms of common mental disorders (CMD) and an association between the presence of these symptoms and future adverse disease outcomes [<span>3</span>]. Although poor psychological health is most apparent during periods of disease activity, the prevalence of symptoms compatible with a CMD remains twice that of the general population even in quiescent disease, suggesting factors beyond inflammatory burden contribute to their development [<span>1, 3</span>]. Furthermore, a recently published longitudinal follow-up study examining trajectories of these symptoms in patients with IBD demonstrates that abnormal anxiety and depression scores persist in almost half of patients, suggesting poor psychological health is a constant for many patients [<span>4</span>]. Psychological health may, therefore, be an important therapeutic target in IBD.</p>