I keep going back to the fact that it must be some kind of bug or bacteria or yeast that keep us inflammed. Not sure how it got there or how the imbalance occurs but keeping the playing field level works for many. I have seen where people had long periods of relief from taking antibiotics and natural supplements like oregano oil. The problem is that once stopping the the problems reoccur. It seems that the playing field was temporary leveled and therefore the gut has a chance to heal a bit and gain some ground. Over time the bad bug or whatever the little critter is has a chance to repopulate. After all isn't that all antibiotics do it kill microbial life? I see that they have nailed down a few named bugs like Cdiff and MAP which can cause issues. MAP not very easy to ID in a person so who knows if we have it or not.

I believe that colitis symptoms can be induced artificially in many ways as we see in mice trials and of course if you read labels on chemicals for injesting info you will see things like thinning of the mucos layer and such. I am certain there are many types of bacteria that can cause this in my mind. Some of which have been named and have not been named or even found yet. I still think that this is really the only solid thing that can be consistant linking most or all of us across the board especially when you consider how the hell does a newborn or someone as young as 1 or 2 years old get this. They haven't had time to do harm to their bodies. But they are born in hospitals where the bacteria is rampid.

The microbial world is as limitless as the universe..So the possibilities of it being this makes the most sense to me.

I am trying to keep a complicated problem simplified.

OM you mention toothpaste with kids. Here is a paper on the effect of fluoride on the stomach mucus lining. Although not the colon but make me wonder if the fluoride (and subsequently hydrofluoric acid) get down into the colon too and starts breaking down the mucus. Fluoride intake over the last 70 years has increased (water, toothpaste, pesticides, air pollution?).

http://www.pulsus.com/journals/abstract.jsp?sCurrPg=journal&jnlKy=2&atlKy=5569&isuKy=198&isArt=t