Crohn’s Disease Newsletter Issue #7 |
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Week of
9/27/06
In this edition:
- Is Viagra Going To Treat Crohn’s Disease?
- A Colonoscopy In A Pill (Becoming More Popular)
- Accutane May Increase IBD Risk…
- Forum Is Getting Active!
O Crap…Are They Going To Use Viagra To Treat Crohn’s Disease?!
Alright back on March 28th, I blogged about a research article that was showing some promise for using Viagra in treating Crohn’s Disease. Here is a link to that article:
Read the Article
But, at that time there was not too much information about how or why it worked. Well, just today their was another article released that discusses it in a bit more detail.
You know how the going theory is that Crohn’s Disease is caused by an over active immune system that attacks the intestines? Well, researchers at University College London, UK are finding that Crohn’s Disease may be getting caused because the immune system is actually WEAK…
You can read more about this at my recent post:
Read More
A Colonoscopy In A Pill?
Now, THIS is cool. About a year ago or so the FDA approved an interesting exam that could potentially replace the entire colonoscopy/endoscopy scene! This is a small pill that you swallow and it actually takes pictures the entire way down your intestines and basically creates a movie that the doctor can watch.
The neat thing here is that this is currently the ONLY exam that can actually see the entire small intestine. Currently there are no exams that can actually view the entire small intestine.
However, to date, in the U.S., insurance companies do not pay for this procedure and doctors do not like using it for any patient that has IBD for fear that it will get stuck in their system.
However, now in Israel, the Ministry of Health has just approved this exam to be used for those who have Crohn’s Disease and they have agreed to reimburse those who get the exam done.
My blog post is here…
Accutane May Increase Risk of IBD
Accutane, a drug taken by teens who have a hard time controlling their acne has just been linked to increased risk of developing IBD.
This new finding is in addition to the hundreds of documented cases where Accutane caused patients to actually commit suicide as a side-effect of the drug.
There seems to be a brewing union against getting the FDA to ban Accutane from continuing to be used.
Read more about it at our blog:
Read More
Are You Posting At The Forum Yet?
Hey! No need to be shy, the forum is already starting to get active posters. Please feel free to start posting responses to this very newsletter and any other topics you want to talk about.
Wishing you the best of health…
- CrohnsHelp.com
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