Background: It is unclear to what extent spinal pain varies between genders and in relation to age. It was the purpose of this study to describe the self-reported prevalence of 1) pain ever and pain in the past year in each of the three spinal regions, 2) the duration of such pain over the past year, 3) pain radiating from these areas, and 4) pain in one, two or three areas. In addition, 5) to investigate if spinal pain reporting is affected by gender and 6) to see if it increases gradually with increasing age.

AIMTo investigate whether immune mediated diseases (IMD) are more frequent in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).METHODSIn this population based registry study, a total of 47325 patients with IBD were alive and registered in the Danish National Patient Registry on December 16, 2013. Controls were randomly selected from the Danish Civil Registration System (CRS) and matched for sex, age, and municipality. We used ICD 10 codes to identify the diagnoses of the included patients. The IBD population was divided into three subgroups: Ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn’s disease (CD) and Both the latter referring to those registered with both diagnoses. Subsequently, odds-ratios (OR) and 95%CI were obtained separately for each group and their respective controls. The use of Bonferoni post-test correction adjusted the significance level to P < 0.00125. P-values were estimated using Fisher’s exact test.RESULTSThere were significantly more women than men in the registry, and a greater percentage of comorbidity in the IBD groups (P < 0.05). Twenty different IMDs were all significantly more frequent in the IBD group. Sixteen were associated with UC versus twelve with CD. In both UC and CD ORs were significantly increased (P < 0.00125) for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), celiac disease, type 1 diabetes (T1D), sarcoidosis, asthma, iridocyclitis, psoriasis, pyoderma gangrenosum, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis. Restricted to UC (P < 0.00125) were autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cholangitis, Grave’s disease, polymyalgia rheumatica, temporal arteritis , and atrophic gastritis. Restricted to CD (P < 0.00125) were psoriatic arthritis and episcleritis. Restricted to women with UC (P < 0.00125) were atrophic gastritis, rheumatoid arthritis, temporal arteritis, and polymyalgia rheumatica. Restricted to women with CD were episcleritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis. The only disease restricted to men (P < 0.00125) was sarcoidosis.CONCLUSIONImmune mediated diseases were significantly more frequent in patients with IBD. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that some IMDs and IBD may have overlapping pathogenic pathways.

The results support the concept of the allergic march. Allergic diseases are not only occurring in childhood but persist into adulthood.

Objective. To assess the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to different definitions of spinal pain and consequences of spinal pain. Methods. The Danish Twin Registry contains detailed survey information on spinal pain and its consequences in twins ages 20 -71 years. A classic genetic epidemiologic analysis was performed in order to establish heritability for a number of phenotypes, including location of pain, radiation of pain in the extremities or chest, pain duration, and combinations of pain in >1 spinal area. Consequences included reduced physical activity, sick leave, care seeking, change of work, and disability pension. The analysis included a biometric analysis based on the effect of shared genetic and common environmental factors. Furthermore, a bivariate twin model was fitted to identify genetic and environmental correlations. Results. Altogether, data on 15,328 twin individuals (44% monozygotic and 56% dizygotic) from complete twin pairs were included. Genetic susceptibility explained ϳ38% of lumbar pain, 32% of thoracic pain, and 39% of neck pain. For patterns of pain, estimates were 7% for lumbar/thoracic, 24% for lumbar/cervical, 0% for thoracic/cervical, and 35% for pain in all 3 areas. Moderate to high genetic correlations indicated a common genetic basis for many spinal pain syndromes. In general, heritability was higher for women, and only a minor age effect was seen. Conclusion. Heritability estimates for pain in different spinal regions are quite similar and there is a moderate to high genetic correlation between the phenotypes. This may indicate a common genetic basis for a high proportion of spinal pain.

SUMMARY BackgroundIt is still controversial whether pre-operative anti-tumour necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNF-a) agents increase post-operative complications in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC).

In women with moderate to severe IBD, 66% experienced disease activity during pregnancy. In those with the highest degree of disease activity, the risk of preterm birth was increased 3 to 4 folds. The proportion of adverse birth outcomes was high, particularly among women with ulcerative colitis and disease activity.

We found an association between 25(OH)D and first-trimester miscarriages, suggesting vitamin D as a modifiable risk factor for miscarriage. To test this hypothesis, randomized controlled trials should investigate the possible effect of vitamin D supplementation to increase 25(OH)D concentrations in early pregnancy, or before conception, to decrease risk of miscarriage. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02434900.

SUMMARY BackgroundA possible negative role of pre-operative use of antitumour necrosis factoralpha (anti-TNF-a) agents on post-operative outcomes in Crohn's disease (CD) patients is still debated.