News

I have just read a new theory regarding the cause of Crohns and here is an extract taken from Theory for Root Cause Of Crohn's Gains Support

By PETER LANDERS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL



The disease is generally thought to be the result of a hyperactive immune system that attacks bacteria in the gut unnecessarily, causing inflammation. One of the newest treatments is Remicade, a Johnson & Johnson drug that treats Crohn's and rheumatoid arthritis by blocking a stimulator of immune response.

But two doctors at Washington University in St. Louis believe the root cause of Crohn's disease is an inadequate immune response. They say a defect in the body's initial response to bacteria causes infection to get out of control, forcing the second-line responders in the immune system to go into overdrive.

"It's a failure of the early step: The excessive response is a reflection of the earlier failure," says Brian Dieckgraefe of Washington University. Dr. Dieckgraefe and colleague Joshua Korzenik developed the theory after finding Crohn's-like symptoms in patients with two rare genetic disorders that cause immune deficiency.

Now the doctors have tested their theory in a clinical trial involving 124 patients. Two-thirds of the patients took Leukine, a drug owned by Schering AG of Berlin that is used in cancer patients to boost the body's initial line of immune defenses. The other one-third took a placebo. In the trial, 48% of the patients taking the drug showed a significant reduction in Crohn's symptoms, compared with 26% on placebo.


I'm brand new to this forum and I hope that this is not a duplicate posting. Some Crohns specialists have criticized this as obviously not being applicable to all Crohns patients and needing more confirmation before this idea might be implemented.