NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients who achieve remission on treatment may want to go off their IBD medications. But half or more of those who do will have a relapse, according to comprehensive analysis of relevant research. “Based on the studies with extended periods of follow up, relapse rates after cessation appear…
IBD Tied to Higher Risk of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at slightly increased risk of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), according to Danish researchers. In a paper online Sept. 8 in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Bjørn Kantsø of Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen and colleagues note that the inappropriate immune response against infective agents seen in…
Alcohol Use Complicates Chronic Disease Management in Teens
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—High school students with chronic medical conditions who drink alcohol are more likely than their nondrinking peers to forget or skip taking their medications, according to an online survey. “I was surprised to see such a clear association between alcohol use and medication nonadherence—a finding which really brings home the need to…
Patients Don’t Realize Smoking Worsens Inflammatory Bowel Disease
(Reuters Health)—Doctors know smoking can increase the risk for certain common inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), but many patients haven’t gotten the message, a new study suggests. Out of 239 patients with two common types of IBD (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) only half were aware of the smoking risks associated with these conditions. “The take-home…
Biomarkers May Help Differentiate Crohn’s From Colitis
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Serum biomarkers can discriminate between Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), according to Danish and Dutch researchers. “The biomarker assays measure neo-epitopes, which are fragments of extracellular matrix protein degradation,” Joachim Høg Mortensen, a PhD student at Nordic Bioscience in Herlev, Denmark, told Reuters Health by email. “These neo-epitopes are increasingly…
Skin Complications of Anti-TNF Therapy Common in IBD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Dermatologic complications hit about one in five patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy, leading to discontinuation of treatment, a French study finds. Dr. Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet, from University Hospital of Nancy, and colleagues note that dermatological complications of anti-TNF therapy are known to occur frequently in IBD…
Studies Challenge Conventional Infliximab Protocols in IBD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Dose optimization of infliximab is needed much earlier in ulcerative colitis than in Crohn’s disease, a single-center retrospective study reveals. “We compared the rates of dose increases over a fairly lengthy period of time,” said Dr. Mark Silverberg, the study’s senior author from the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. “Patients with ulcerative…
Increased Risk of Serious Infections During Early Anti-TNF Treatment
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The risk of serious infections increases in the early months of anti-TNF treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, researchers from Denmark report. “The pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha plays an important role in the immune system and therefore it is biologically plausible that TNF-alpha inhibitors may increase the risk of infections,” said Dr. Nynne Nyboe…