Mixed
Adults with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), particularly Crohn's disease, exhibit significant alterations in body composition characterized by reduced fat-free mass and fat mass, which are often masked by normal or elevated BMI.
If you have IBD, do not rely on BMI alone to gauge your health. A normal BMI can hide significant loss of muscle and fat mass. Seek body composition analysis (like DXA or BIA) to detect these hidden deficits, as they impact bone health and quality of life, even if you are not 'underweight' by standard charts.
BMI did not accurately predict body composition... around one-third of patients with CD have altered body composition characterised by reduced BMI, FFM and FM compared with control populations, despite only 5% being underweight by BMI criteria.
Why this rating
The finding is based on a systematic review of 19 heterogeneous studies with varying methodologies and sample sizes.
Source
Systematic review: body composition in adults with inflammatory bowel disease
Robert V. Bryant et al. · Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics · 2013
DOI 10.1111/apt.12372
More from this paper
- Corticosteroid therapy in IBD patients is associated with adverse body composition changes, including reduced fat-free mass and increased fat mass, depending on the patient subgroup.Moderate
- Reduced fat-free mass (lean mass) in IBD patients is a stronger predictor of bone mineral density (BMD) than fat mass or BMI.Moderate
Related findings · Mixed
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