Category Archives: Ulcerative Colitis

Having a chronic illness like ulcerative colitis affects your health in so many ways, from the daily issues, like terrible pain, to the big picture, like an increased risk of colorectal cancer. The connection between ulcerative colitis and colorectal cancer can be scary and confusing, but its an important one to understand. Heres what you need to know about it Continue reading →

Adjunctive therapy with curcumin was found to provide a greater clinical benefit than placebo in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) being treated with mesalamine, according to the findings of a recently published systematic review and meta-analysis. To investigate the potential antiinflammatory properties of curcumin, study authors searched various databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, SCOPUS, and Web of Science databases) to obtain randomized controlled trials assessing its use as combination therapy in the treatment of mild to moderate UC Continue reading →

Once a year, Oaklands Kaiser Medical Center transforms into a scene out of a high school movie. For the teen patients being treated for chronic illness, hospital staff put on an event called the Pediatric Prom. Continue reading →

Homayoon Bashiri,1,2 Arezoo Bozorgomid1 1Infectious Diseases Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran Correspondence: Arezoo Bozorgomid Infectious Diseases Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran Tel +989188728269 Email Arezoobozorgomid@yahoo.com Purpose: Mesalazine formulations are the drug of choice in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). They are released at alkaline pH in order to deliver 5-aminosalicylic acid to the colon Continue reading →

A new study by an environmental watchdog group finds more drinking water systems containing "forever chemicals," including in the D.C. region. A new report by an environmental watchdog group finds more drinking water systems around the country than previously believed are contaminated by what the group characterizes as high levels of forever chemicals, which arent broken-down over time Continue reading →

WINNIPEG -- A Winnipeg group of gastroenterologists is looking for hundreds of people to donate their stool to science. Actually more than just stool -- they want your urine, your blood and a little bit of your time to answer questions to help improved the management of inflammatory bowel diseases and irritable bowel syndromes. The two most common examples are Crohns Disease or ulcerative colitis. Continue reading →

The state Department of Environmental Protection says it will take years to resolve its dispute with five chemical companies which it has accused of contaminating many areas of New Jersey with toxic PFAS chemicals. Continue reading →

With changes in available medications and treatment paradigms, and a need to provide guidance on definitions of disease severity, the American College of Gastroenterology recently updated clinical guidance on the management of adults with ulcerative colitis (UC). Published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, the update covers nearly a decade and includes changes in monitoring treatment response and recommendations covering all areas of UC management, such as outpatient dysplasia surveillance. Millie D. Continue reading →

A Danish study of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and Parkinson disease (PD) found that patients with IBD had a 22% increased risk of developing PD over patients without IBD. The study, published in Gut, examined all Danish residents aged 15 years or older from 1977 to 2014 in the largest and longest population-based study of links between enteric inflammation and PD.1 A growing body of research points to the role of the gut-brain axis in the development of PD, with inflammation, irritable bowel syndrome, leaky gut, and altered gut microbiota observed in the gut, often years before the onset of symptoms of PD.2 The disease is strongly associated with the accumulation of Lewy bodies, which are eosinophilic deposits that occur within cell cytoplasm and are composed of a misfolded protein, alpha-synuclein. Some research points to the gut as the origin of the misfolded protein, spreading via the vagus nerve into the brain.3 In one study, alpha-synuclein injected in the gut walls of rats migrated to the brain stem through the vagus nerve at a rate estimated to be from 5 to 10 mm per day, thus providing startling evidence of the gut-brain connection.4 In fact, Lewy pathology can be detected in the gut of patients with PD as many as 20 years before their diagnosis via motor symptoms.5 Moreover, increases in intestinal alpha-synuclein are also strongly correlated with changes in gut microbiota that lead to inflammation and elevated permeability of the gut barrier.6 The possibility that PD may originate in the gut is also supported by discoveries of close associations between PD and inflammatory markers, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin 6, which are present in patients with ulcerative colitis, IBD, and Crohn disease.2 Patients with PD have a distinctive fecal microbiome, even when they have shared the same diet for decades with other members of their households without PD Continue reading →

Drug developer Theravance Biopharma (NASDAQ:TBPH) is not your typical biotech company. It emerged in 2014 from a spinoff of the R&D branch of its parent company, now called Innoviva (NASDAQ:INVA). Shareholders in Innoviva received a dividend of Theravance Biopharma stock Continue reading →