Is anything known about possible causes?
The cause or causes are completely unknown at present. There is considerable evidence to suggest that in some persons with these diseases, allergic-like reactions (antigen-antibody) occur in the tissues of the intestinal tract. This means that the body’s defence mechanisms are operating against some materials in the digestive tract that they recognize as foreign matter. Exactly what initiates this reaction in the body (e.g. viruses, bacteria, food substances or other kinds of toxic agents) remains a mystery. What starts out as a defence mechanism, may then become the disease.
