Question: My extended family has at least six members with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Is there any way to prevent the children in the family from getting these awful conditions?

Dr. Hibberd's answer:
Ulcerative colitis affects more than 500,000 people in the United States. Infants and children may also develop the disease. Ulcerative colitis occurs five times more frequently in those with a Jewish heritage — especially Ashkenazi (European) Jews — than it does in the general population.
Ulcerative colitis is similar to Crohn's disease, another inflammatory bowel disease. But Crohn's disease can happen anywhere in the digestive tract, often in patches, and can spread deeper into tissues. Ulcerative colitis, on the other hand, is usually confined to the innermost layers of tissue and is uniform throughout the colon.
There is no known way to prevent ulcerative colitis. But you can usually manage the condition with a combination of medication, diet, and lifestyle changes. A low-fat diet rich in fiber, fruits, vegetables, fluids, magnesium, and vitamin C; exercise; and stress reduction techniques (including hypnosis) may also help prevent recurrences.