More UC being diagnosed but less surgery

"Today, a higher number of patients with ulcerative colitis are able to keep their bowel and steer clear of surgery, as shown in a study from Örebro University."

/medicalxpress.com/news/2017-10-patients-ulcerative-colitis-surgeries.html

Back then they didn't have as many medications to treat IBDs, Biologicals have become a game changer.

I think that some people continue to suffer hoping that one of the biologicals will work for them even though they are non-responders. I became a non-responder after Remicade failed me; it worked great for 4+ years and then nothing worked after that.

Surgery has also come a long way since the 70's, now there are j-pouches and laparoscopic surgeries.

It's a confusingly written article, because it says this the paragraph before the year 2005 part it says: "Carl Eriksson has examined the outcome for people developing the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis in Örebro between 1963 and 2010. Over 1,000 patients are part of the study." I'm confused why they would include 1,000 patients in the study in this paragraph. It would have been better in the next paragraph with the years.

The FDA approved Remicade for CD in 1998. They were using it off label for UC at that time too. /www.thepharmaletter.com/article/fda-approves-remicade-for-crohn-s-disease

Also remember that they start using Cyclosporine in the early 90's to save people from surgery. It is actually much more effective than Biologicals.

Connor77 said...
With all the new drugs on the market, an 8% reduction in surgery outcomes is not that impressive.

How about we research an actual cure already.

Sounds like you should have picked up a career in medicine.

No disrespect, but it does sounds a little conspiracy-theory-ish to me (monsato et al.). I'm pro-anything-that-helps. Without biologics, I'd be sporting a fancy j-pouch as nothing else has worked for me, personally. With remicade I've known a remission, and had a few bumps on the way but am well managed thanks to it. Given some are refractory to everything, and 'everything' implies future meds too (refractory to really anything but a true cure which remains elusive).

superhenderson13 said...


side note, has anyone wondered why they get put in a type of artificial colon? i know the reason why they cannot put in a new colon, but i wonder why they cant create a colon made from a strong enough material that acts as a colon.

much easier said than done though i guess.

Why do that when you can have a j-pouch made of your own flesh. Anything artificial would require using long-term immune suppressants. I am off all drugs at the moment and i wouldn't want to take anything to have an artificial colon. It's just not worth it. 5 BMs a day, or a bunch of pills and deal with doctors, drug costs, prescriptions... I'll take the extra trips to the toilet. I can do it when I am in there peeing. I think the problem is that the biologics don't work for everyone, and the people they do work for, tend not to have success forever. At a certain point it comes down to, would you rather have surgery now, or in ten years? I'd just do it now if it were me. Barring a cure coming along, but I don't think it's going to come about anytime too soon. Everything is just another treatment. Long term, expensive, pocket-padding (or draining) treatment.

Good points Mike. There are identical twins in my family, one has UC one doesn't. The prevailing theory is that an event has to start the UC like food poisoning etc. One of the twins had an event, the other didn't, both carry the genes identified as precursors to UC. Its a puzzle and we definitely need more research!

Late 20s now, about 17 when she got it. There are at least 10 people in my family tree with UC/CD. gotta love the genes

Connor77 said...


It's not a conspiracy, just a deduction of reading the historical research. The main motivation to switch from pathogenic research to immune suppression research was the privatization of clinical research in general. In the late 40's and early 50's they were already investigating why Crohn's and Johne's Disease look so similar. Johne's has been known about since 1890, including the bacteria that causes it. Once the research institutions became privatized the plug was pulled on htat.

It was the advent of prednisone in the 50's, its symptom suppression and profitability that changed the whole game. There's simply no profit in looking for a cure to UC. Even the Crohn's-MAP vaccine under development had to be independently funded. It has zero support from big pharma despite the enormous amount of clinical data the creators have generated.

Once IBD is declared an epidemic hopefully things will change. Based on disease numbers that will be 2025 or so.

Bull's eye. The term 'neoliberalism' is not a conspiracy. This ideology has effects on everything, including science and disease.