#Vedolizumab - Favorable Among FDA for Ulcerative #Colitis & #Crohns

Good News!!  The FDA supports the approval of Vedolizumab for the treatment of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.  The treatment looks extremely promising with a safety profile to be recognized.  
Hey, If I would consider the treatment, it has to have minimal/low risks in regard to serious side effects that a lot of biologics have.  Vedolizumab is looking good in the safety department.
The FDA will make the decision to either approve or deny treatment for use among ulcerative colitis (UC) patients by Feb. 18.  The decision for Crohn’s disease (CD) patients will be several months later around June. 

Vedolizumab for Crohn's Wins Support:

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Most members of an FDA advisory committee support approval of the investigational biologic agent vedolizumab for Crohn's disease, as well as supporting an additional indication for ulcerative colitis.

Borody-His Innovative Discoveries on Digestive Disease - #FMT & #RHB104

This is another great article.  I knew that Dr. Borody, a doctor and professor out of Australia, developed FMT's (Fecal Matter Transplants) and was 1st to use the transplants to treat c-diff.  Interesting enough he is also considering FMT's for other digestive problems and even neurological conditions.  It will be interesting to see what illnesses are helped with this procedure.  

Here in the US doesn't even have a billing code for FMT's AND the FDA have only permitted transplants for difficult cases of c-diff, patients who do not respond to the antibiotic, that only around 30% of the patients respond to.  FMT's have a 90% recovery rate.  The question again is why not go with the treatment that has a higher success rate rather than lower.  Very sad that the US is so slow to adopt new and smarter treatments that will get people well.   I won't even go there today. It is an issue that probably raises my blood pressure if I think about it too long.  Not even joking.  

Anyway, after reading this article, I found out that Dr Borody also was the innovator for RHB-104 that is currently in the trial stages at this time. If you have Crohn's and don't know what RHB-104, read up on the treatment.  I have some blog posts that will give a good amount of information about the therapy.  It will make you smile and give you a boost of hope for something that may actually be able to eradicate Crohn's all together.  That is exciting!  
Professor Thomas Borody gets it!  He seems to understand the nature of digestive diseases very well.  He is certainly the man who is making some progress with developing real solutions to treat the actual condition and not just remedy the symptoms of a disease.  His name is one to remember and follow as he implements treatments that seem to be successful so far.  
Part of this article gives a little in depth look at his life and how he chose to dedicate his direction to gastrointestinal diseases.   

Note: I have underlined parts of the article that I felt were things to take note of.

He has the stomach for it | JPost | Israel News:

''
Prof. Thomas Borody Photo: Courtesy
It’s amazing when in medicine, ideas that had seemed ridiculous – such as a chronic infection instead of an annoying boss causing ulcers – eventually become accepted truisms. Even though stools are considered dirty and something to get rid of, gastroenterologists have discovered that they can transplant feces from healthy donors into patients and very often relieve their chronic bacterial infections, irritable bowel disease (IBD), colitis, constipation and even some neurological conditions.

Prof. Thomas Borody, the founder and current medical director of the Center for Digestive Diseases (CDD) in Sydney, Australia, is a major innovator in these surprising treatments.

The CDD is considered a unique medical institution offering novel approaches in researching, diagnosing and treating gastrointestinal conditions. CDD offers a range of services in the day-procedure unit and houses a research and innovation department for conducting clinical trials in collaboration with universities, pharmaceutical companies and medical societies – all focusing on gastroenterology.

Identifying & Destroying the Cause of Crohn's Disease #ibd #MAP

Encouraging and hopeful article!  

Attacking the Cause of Crohn's Disease | YottaFire:

'UCF College of Medicine professor Dr. Saleh Naser soon will participate in a clinical trial to test whether a new antibiotic therapy acquired by RedHill Biopharma can be used to treat Crohn’s disease patients.

The FDA-approved phase III trial is expected to commence within weeks by RedHill Biopharma, which licensed Naser’s DNA technology for detecting Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, known as MAP. It is believed to be associated with Crohn’s disease. RedHill Biopharma developed the anti-MAP antibiotic regimen known as RHB 104. Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract characterized by cramping and diarrhea.

Naser developed and patented a way to detect MAP from milk, blood and tissue clinical samples. The bacterium is known to cause inflammation in the intestines of cows. It is also linked to Crohn’s disease, although its role has been debated for more than a century. Naser believes MAP is an underlying cause of the disease.

“Crohn’s disease affects more than 750,000 Americans, yet traditional treatments only address the symptoms of inflammation and not the cause,” Naser said. “I have seen case studies where patients’ lives have been restored following treatment, which removes MAP. I have high hopes that this clinical trial may lead to finding a cure.”

RedHill will be enrolling 240 subjects from the United States, Canada and Israel in this double blind clinical trial in which blood and intestinal biopsy specimens from Crohn’s patients will be tested for MAP before, during and following the one-year treatment with the antibiotic RHB 104.

“Since we acquired the license to Dr. Saleh Naser’s MAP detection technique in 2011, we have had an excellent collaboration with UCF,” said RedHill’s CEO Dror Ben-Asher. “The UCF team of researchers… is at the forefront of global academic research on MAP and its detection.”

Naser is looking forward to the trial and hopes this will end the academic debate regarding MAP and Crohn’s disease.

“I am ecstatic to be part of a team, which will help determine whether or not MAP is associated with Crohn’s disease; certainly a final answer to a one hundred-year old controversy,” Naser said.

Naser joined UCF in 1995 and has been a faculty member in the medical college since its foundation. He teaches clinical chemistry and infectious processes in the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences within the medical school. He also serves as the graduate coordinator for three masters programs in the College of Medicine.

http://today.ucf.edu

*Audio* WSJ's- What to Know About #Obamacare & Your #Chronic Illness #ibd #ra #ms #aids

Audio about what you should know regarding health care reform Obamacare and your chronic illness.  *Listen* Be prepared.

WSJ's What's News -- Chronic Illness & Obamacare - The Wall Street Journal Whats News - MarketWatch:

Anorectal Sinuses, Fistulae/ #Fistula #Fissure, Rectal Bleeding

I was searching for some information and happened to run across this "different" online manual that almost explains how you would treat and perform certain surgeries for various gastrointestinal problems. They write it up in laymans terms maybe in order to understand the material.  They give minimal instruction on how to actually do each procedure/surgery (as this is probably a good thing, some of the broad details are difficult to read)  

When I was done reading the Proctology section, I went to the Home page which is states the following about this manual  The manual contains the collective views of an international group of experts. The methods and techniques described correspond to the state of the art with regard to their feasibility in rural hospitals, where sophisticated technical equipment may not be available. These manuals cannot, however, replace personal instruction by a qualified expert. Neither the editors, nor the publisher may be held responsible for any damage resulting from the application of the described methods. Any liability in this respect is excluded.:  http://www.meb.uni-bonn.de/dtc/primsurg/index.html

Volume One: Non-trauma

Nelson Awori, Anne Bayley, Alan Beasley, James Boland, Michael Crawford, Frits Driessen, Allen Foster, Wendy Graham, Brian Hancock, Branwen Hancock, Gerald Hankins, Neville Harrison, Ian Kennedy, Julius Kyambi, Samiran Nundy, Joe Sheperd, John Stewart, Grace Warren, Michael Wood 
Edited by Maurice King, Peter C. Bewes, James Cairns, Jim Thornton
Online Edition on special wish of the editors Maurice King and Peter C. Bewes expressed on the 8th. DTC Symposium in Jena 1999;
realisation by : Bernd Michael Schneider, Gustav Quade, Jürgen Quade, H. Woltering, P. Sommer, and B.D. Domres
The production of this manual on Surgery was sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation within the scope of the Technical Co-operation Agreement with the Republic of Kenya, under project number 78.2048.3-01.100. It was compiled by Maurice King Peter Bewes, James Cairns, and Jim Thornton in close collaboration with Kenyan and other experts. 
The manual contains the collective views of an international group of experts. The methods and techniques described correspond to the state of the art with regard to their feasibility in rural hospitals, where sophisticated technical equipment may not be available. These manuals cannot, however, replace personal instruction by a qualified expert. Neither the editors, nor the publisher may be held responsible for any damage resulting from the application of the described methods. Any liability in this respect is excluded.

Das Copyright ^© und alle Rechte für 'Primary Surgery' liegen bei der Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH und bleiben unberührt.
"GTZ does not accept any liability or give any guarantee for the validity, accuracy and completeness of the information provided in this title. GTZ assumes no legal liabilities for damages, material or immaterial in kind, caused by the use ore non-use of provided information or the use of erronenous or incomplete information."
we thank GTZ for giving us the revocable rigth for distributing this information for non-profit purpose according to the above mentioned wishes of the editors M. King and P.Bewes as expressed on the general assembly of the 8th DTC Symposium in Jena on 13th 11.1999 and thank the team of AGKM Uni Tuebingen; for the support during the implementation and G. Quade for the technical support provided during the realisation of this online - project.