Healthy participants sought: A therapeutic diet to treat Crohn’s disease

Healthy volunteers sought for diet study

We are seeking healthy participants to assess a new diet that may be used to treat Crohn’s disease.

In this study we are investigating what effect some dietary components have on the intestine in healthy humans to help us understand what they might be capable of in Crohn's disease.

For this study we are seeking help from healthy volunteers

Study probes complementary and alternative medicine use for bowel disease

Dr Raffi Luber, co-
author on a study of
IBD & CAM therapy

by Anne Crawford

Physicians treating patients for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are occasionally asked about the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) but often have limited knowledge of the therapies and can be quick to dismiss their efficacy.

A study by researchers in the Department of Gastroenterology at the Alfred Hospital has reviewed the available evidence for the most commonly used and discussed CAMs so informed advice can be offered to patients wanting to know about them.

Monitoring Crohn's disease after surgery

Prof Peter Gibson, one of the
study's authors

Crohn's disease (CD) usually recurs after intestinal resection; postoperative endoscopic monitoring and tailored treatment can reduce the chance of recurrence. The researchers investigated whether monitoring levels of fecal calprotectin (FC) can substitute for endoscopic analysis of the mucosa. In this analysis of data from a prospective clinical trial, FC measurement has sufficient sensitivity and NPV values to monitor for CD recurrence after intestinal resection. Its predictive value might be used to identify patients most likely to relapse. After treatment for recurrence, the FC level can be used to monitor response to treatment. It predicts which patients will have disease recurrence with greater accuracy than CRP level or CDAI score.