Traveling can wreak havoc on your gut—even if you don’t drink dirty water. Flying or visiting high altitudes can trigger flares of symptoms like diarrhea and stomach pain in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to new Swiss research.
Researchers surveyed people whose IBD symptoms had flared up and found 40 percent of them took a trip within the past 4 weeks. That’s compared to about 16 percent of people who were symptom-free.
Low oxygen pressure during long flights (or at destinations above 6,500 feet) activates an inflammatory factor called HIF-1alpha, says study author Stephan Vavricka, M.D. Doctors tend to find high levels of this chemical in the intestines of people with active cases of Crohn’s disease and colitis, the diseases collectively called IBD.
Vacation booked? Make sure you take your meds regularly and have your condition under control before you leave, says coauthor Peter Higgins, M.D. Then, try taking a 5-milligram dose of Prednisone before you take off to prevent a flare, Dr. Vavricka says.
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