IBD Management

While going through my daily browsing through Yahoo Health, I stumbled upon an article relating to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Since many of the articles we read touched upon treatments targeting the initiation of inflammation before tissue damage occurs, I thought it would be interesting to read about various treatments. Treatment is individualized based upon each patient. The physician and the patient work closely to develop which treatment goal is most effective. The goals are developed based upon the intensity of IBD and the side effects of a treatment. Managing IBD serves to improve quality of life by either reducing symptoms or eliminating them. This article discusses the use of corticosteroids for IBD to reduce the inflammatory response in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Typically, corticosteroids are used by people with severe symptoms because they stop symptoms by putting patients in remission. Long term use is not encouraged because they have side effects which limit treatment. Using systemic corticosteroids causes side effects such as acne and severe mood changes, adrenal insufficiency, visual changes, cataract formation, and aseptic joint necrosis.

Pregnant women use corticosteroids to manage IBD as well. They are considered as a safe means of treatment when symptoms flare up. Before, women with IBD were advised not to have children because they are more at risk for having a miscarriage, to deliver prematurely and to have a low birth weight infant. Medications have been used to help manage this problem in order for women to have a more successful pregnancy.

One common factor that develops with IBD is depression. This coexistence further decreases the “fair and poor” quality of life many IBD patients have described. Nearly 30-50 percent of people with IBD also suffer from depression and of these people, 30 percent develop a dependence on medication and alcohol.

Sources:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/980101ap/botoman.html
http://health.yahoo.com/digestive-medications/corticosteroids-for-inflammatory-bowel-disease/healthwise--hw40876.html;_ylt=AhI4dhx_I93e9ODpBwFreVFLvs8F

UA Live Fit

During several of our class discussions regarding inflammatory diseases, we have mentioned the importance of diet and exercise in preventing and remediating some of these diseases. We have also discussed the lack of education in the U.S. specifically about diet and exercise. I just learned that UA Campus Health is introducing a new web-based program to educate students about living healthy, active lives. Apparently, everyone with a UA net ID and password will have access to this web-based service, which is described in the UA News (see link below) as “kind of like having an online personal trainer and nutrition adviser that’s available to you 24/7.” The website provides information about preparing nutritious food with limited resources, finding nearby restaurants that serve nutritious food, implementing new exercise programs, and even tracking fitness goal progress. For more information, follow this link to the UA news article:

http://uanews.org/node/30533