Our study introduces network medicine to IBD , i.e. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis for the first time — analyzing 30334 patients based on a population level representative electronic health record registry (all 4.85 million citizens of the Canadian Province of Alberta with 250 ethnically and culturally distinct groups including First Nations and immigrants from all continents) across all healthcare facilities over nearly two decades. This work demonstrates what can be accomplished with collaborative health data sharing. We uncovered unknown communities, relationships and temporal patterns— the diseasome and interactome.
We ...
➡️ identified distinct disease clusters
➡️ mapped interconnections between EIM and AID
➡️ created the first interactive, disease map for IBD-related conditions
💡Key insights
📌Mental health and musculoskeletal disorders are the most common EIM/AID in IBD
📌CD patients face higher risks of genitourinary, dermatological, and respiratory conditions
📌UC is more often associated with digestive, endocrine, and thromboembolic complications
📌Network analysis revealed stable, non-random disease clusters, aiding in more personalized and predictive care
📊 Why this matters
These findings underscore the multisystemic impact of IBD, moving beyond traditional gut-focused treatment to a precision medicine approach. Our interactive disease network allows researchers and clinicians to explore these connections in real time, opening doors for targeted therapies and better patient outcomes.
📕Full paper
🔗https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-025-01504-6
Background on collaborative health data sharing:
🔗https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-024-01005-y
Background on IBD and management:
🔗https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1907607
🔍Explore our interactive web-based model to support clinical decisions and advance research
🔗http://ibdnetwork-env.eba-tffhf8nh.us-west-2.elasticbeanstalk.com/
Our 🇨🇦🌲team is proud to contribute to redefining how we understand and manage complex chronic diseases like IBD 🧠🩺⚕️️