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by baugarten 4669 days ago
While I agree that the data should not be lumped together, the treatment options for Colitis and Crohns are almost entirely the same, at least in terms of biologics, steroids, and NSAIDs. My doctor isn't 100% sure whether I have Crohns or Colitis (biopsies say colitis, but inflammation characteristic of crohns).

Secondly, I must say that I find diet is extremely important when you have IBD. Now, I'm not about to go off of all my medication and grab some Vitamin B tablets, but I, like most patients, have trigger foods that will almost certainly cause me pain.

Additionally, past studies have shown enteral feeding to be extremely effective (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1378894/), suggesting that diet is a major factor. Again, fecal transplants are widely successful (http://journals.lww.com/jcge/Abstract/2003/07000/Treatment_o...) and the FDA is reviewing fecal transplants as a viable treatment option. Again, if fecal transplants do work, then a necessary cause of crohns/colitis could be an imbalance of gut bacteria, caused by poor diet/antibiotics/preservatives
1 comments
wyck 4669 days ago
If you ever have a flare up I would suggest getting a colonoscopy, they can tell somewhat accurately which one you have. There is an additional procedure (don't know the name) where they fill you with white liquid and perform an abdominal CT scan during a flare up. Since the ulcers are in different locations for each disease they can visually see where the problem is.

Also treatments are not always the same, for example in Europe they sometimes treat Colitis with nicotine (if the patient is a smoker or has recently quit), but doing so with a Crohn's patient would have a negative effect.

I agree that the steroid use is typically the same (and asacol), but Colitis seems less affected by diet than Crohns, if you have a severe case the only help is medication and diet has little to no effect outside abrasive materials.

I'm not being negative about the site, I do think it is great that people can come together as a community, I just had some concerns.

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