Colorectal Cancer Screening The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, federal Minister of Health recently said, “While colon cancer is highly treatable if caught early, it is still currently the second leading cause of cancer deaths in Canada. We can help change that by encouraging our friends and family over age 50 to speak to their doctors about [...]
Colorectal Risk and Statins About Statins Statins are a class of drugs used to lower blood cholesterol. They work in your liver to block a substance needed to make cholesterol. They may also help your body reabsorb cholesterol that has accumulated in plaques on your artery walls. This helps prevent further blockage in your blood [...]
Folic Acid and Methionine Intake may Affect Colon Cancer Risk In a study involving almost 2,000 patients with colorectal cancer and over 4,000 disease-free patients (who were admitted to hospital for reasons not related to colorectal cancer), researchers in Italy concluded that a diet rich in folate and methionine – and containing little alcohol – [...]
Treating Constipation with Laxatives Before heading to the laxative aisle at your local pharmacy to self-treat constipation, it’s important to be informed. With the many varieties and types of laxatives and therapies available, choosing the best one for your body’s needs, while avoiding those that are too aggressive, requires knowledge and understanding. Also, as with [...]
Anti-TNF-α Treatment Restores Gut Barrier Research done in 2002 confirms that in Crohn’s disease, the protective lining in the gut becomes more permeable than usual, which allows potentially harmful substances to pass through. However, by blocking a specific chemical in the body, not only is inflammation in the gut reduced, but most of the holes [...]
Blood Clots and IBD In a study reported in the April 2004 issue of Gut, researchers set out to determine whether venous thromboembolism (TE) is more prevalent among inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients than control groups. TE is a condition in which a blood clot (thrombus) forms in a vein. This clot can limit blood [...]
Could Pregnancy Be Good for Inflammatory Bowel Disease? Do you have inflammatory bowel disease and are worried how this might affect your ability to have a healthy pregnancy? Researchers in Europe have revealed that pregnancy might actually be good for you. In a 2006 study, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, researchers looked at [...]
Depression and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) It can be challenging and stressful to live with a chronic disease such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but does this mean one is more likely to have serious problems with anxiety and depression as well? Yes, according to a recent study1 published in the American [...]
IBD and Liver Disease Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is often associated with other diseases that develop alongside intestinal and perianal involvement. These other diseases are called extraintestinal manifestations of IBD. Extraintestinal organ systems that may be involved with IBD are listed in below. The associations of these manifestations with IBD have been recognized for many [...]
Inflammatory Bowel Disease & Flu Vaccination Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term that refers to two intestinal diseases: ulcerative colitis (UC), and Crohn’s disease. Ulcerative colitis affects only the innermost layer of the intestinal wall in the large bowel (colon). Crohn’s disease can affect any area along the small or large intestine. Unlike UC, [...]
Co-Managing IBD & Arthritis: A Complex Prescription Gastroenterologists and rheumatologists discuss patients who have conditions spanning both specialties: those with inflammatory bowel disease and spondyloarthropathy. Inflammatory Bowel Disease Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a general term for two main bowel diseases: Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Both are idiopathic inflammatory conditions that affect the gastrointestinal [...]
Imagining IBD This is a summary of the talk given by Dr. David Israel at the April CSIR/CCFC meeting, an evening shared with Dr. Steven Arvidson (naturopathic physician). It draws a comparison between the inflammation process of IBD and active law enforcement within a community. Inflammatory bowel diseases are chronic conditions with no known cause [...]
Isolation and How to Counteract It A chronic condition, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), can affect a person in many ways. Some are physical, such as over-all health, physical growth, and daily mobility. Some are psychological and social, such as increased stress and isolation. Some are economic, such as reduced opportunities for education or [...]
Living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Tips From Our Support Groups The underlying cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is not known at present. While food choice doesn’t induce IBD, it can affect some disease symptoms, so it does matter what you eat. If you’re affected by IBD, aim to become knowledgeable and ‘nutritionally’ fit. Since [...]
Acupuncture and Digestion Before the thought of needles makes you run away in fear, or simply skip this article, think about this: an acupuncture needle is only about the diameter of a thick hair, so acupuncture is not painful. My favourite way to describe acupuncture is to de-emphasize the ‘puncture’ part of the word and [...]
Digestive Fallacies Researchers have only recently begun to understand the many, often complex, diseases that affect the digestive system. Accordingly, people are gradually replacing folklore, old wives’ tales, and rumours about the causes and treatments of digestive diseases with accurate, up-to-date information. But misunderstandings still exist, and, while some folklore is harmless, some can be [...]
Saliva: Going with the Flow Saliva, the watery liquid produced by glands located under your tongue, is an essential component of the digestive process. Saliva is 98% water, so it moistens your mouth and helps compact food into softened particles for easier swallowing. It is loaded with useful elements like electrolytes, enzymes, mucus, various antibacterial [...]
Oral Manifestations of GI Diseases Although mainly expressing in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, a digestive disorder may produce symptoms outside of the digestive system, or in a portion of this system far away from the primary disease site. Several GI conditions can give rise to symptoms in the oral cavity, within tissues in or around [...]
Smoking and The Digestive Tract Smoking cigarettes causes a variety of life-threatening diseases such as lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. The inhalation of smoke is responsible for changes in all parts of the body, including the digestive system. This fact can have serious consequences on health because the digestive system converts foods into the [...]
The Liver Where is your liver, and what does it look like? A large, complex, triangular-shaped solid organ, the liver is located in the upper right abdomen, just below the diaphragm and behind the ribs, extending across the midline to the left side. It is the largest and heaviest internal organ, weighing about 1.5 kilograms. [...]
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