Inflammatory bowel disease medical therapy
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Inflammatory Bowel Disease Main page |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Depending on the level of severity, IBD may require immunosuppression to control the symptoms such as azathioprine, methotrexate, or 6-mercaptopurine. More commonly, treatment of IBD requires a form of mesalamine.
Medical Therapy
Depending on the level of severity, IBD may require immunosuppression to control the symptoms. such as azathioprine, methotrexate, or 6-mercaptopurine. More commonly, treatment of IBD requires a form of mesalamine. Often, steroids are used to control disease flares and were once acceptable as a maintenance drug. In use for several years in Crohns disease patients and recently in patients with ulcerative colitis, biologicals has been used such as the intravenously administered Remicade. Severe cases may require surgery, such as bowel resection, strictureplasty or a temporary or permanent colostomy or ileostomy. Alternative medicine treatments for bowel disease exist in various forms, however such methods concentrate on controlling underlying pathology in order to avoid prolonged steroidal exposure or surgical excisement.[1]
Usually the treatment is started by administering drugs with high anti-inflammatory affects, such as prednisone. Once the inflammation is successfully controlled, the patient is usually switched to a lighter drug to keep the disease in remission, such as asacol, a mesalamine. If unsuccessful, a combination of the aforementioned immunosupression drugs with a mesalamine (which may also have an anti-inflammatory effect) may or may not be administered, depending on the patient.