About 18.5% of patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis experienced remission after taking tofacitinib for eight weeks, compared with 8.2% of patients taking a placebo, researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine. In another trial, remission was experienced after one year by 34.3% of patients taking a 5-mg dose of tofacitinib and
Are home gut microbiome test kits reliable?
- For Medical Professionals
- General GI
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Microbiome
- Nutrition
Experts question value of at-home gut microbiome test kits The idea that different types of bacteria in the human gut play a role in health and disease is driving a new trend in consumer-oriented health-care kits. Startups are offering new services to analyze the complex community of microörganisms that live in the digestive tract—called the
A study in The American Journal of Gastroenterology showed the number of Canadian children under age 5 diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease increased 7.2% yearly from 1999 to 2010. Researchers said new IBD diagnosis rates for children under age 16 were stable in most provinces, at about 2% annually, but overall, the number of children
Vedolizumab demonstrated significantly greater efficacy as induction and maintenance therapy for UC than placebo in patients naive to TNF antagonists and patients with TNF antagonist failure. There were numerically greater treatment differences at Week 6 among patients receiving vedolizumab who were naive to TNF antagonists than patients with TNF antagonist failure. An AGA Reading Room
Researchers said Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis have distinct microbiomes, which could help physicians differentiate between them and reduce the use of diagnostic endoscopy. The study reported in the journal Gut included analysis of 2,045 fecal samples and showed patients with Crohn’s had less microbial diversity and a less stable microbiome compared with UC patients.
New study will compare the Mediterranean and specific carbohydrate diets The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) is sponsoring what it is calling the first-ever national study of the effect of dietary interventions to treat Crohn’s disease. The study will compare the Mediterranean-style diet with the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) in order to evaluate
Study shows IBD relapse rates are high when patients quit their anti-TNF medication Almost half of inflammatory bowel disease patients who stop anti-TNF drugs when they achieve remission have a relapse, researchers reported in The American Journal of Gastroenterology. Researcher Dr. Maria Jose Casanova of Hospital Universitario de la Princesa in Madrid, said the study
Ulcerative colitis patients more concerned about IBD complications than drug adverse events
An online survey asking ulcerative colitis patients in the US and Australia about their biggest concerns found 37% said it was the increased risk for colon cancer, 29% said it was the possibility of needing an ostomy and 14% cited adverse events from medications. When asked about treatment issues, 84% were most concerned about surgery
Detrimental effects include more aggressive disease and worse response to treatment. Once again, the immune effects on the microbiome may be the pathway to disease activation and drug response. Source: Assessing the Links Between Smoking and Crohn’s Disease
CDC data showed almost 3.1 million US adults reported being diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease in 2015, with rates varying by age, education, ethnicity, income and employment status. The study, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, found higher IBD rates among adults ages 45 and older and non-Hispanic whites. MedPage Today (free
