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Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) afflicts 1 in every 400
people within the United Kingdom. It is an illness that can
occur at any age, but commonly is first diagnosed between
the ages of 15 and 35. One type of IBD known as ulcerative
colitis affects the large intestine. This causes extensive
inflammation with small ulcers, leading to pain, bloody diarrhoea
and poor general health. Sometimes it can even cause symptoms
in the eyes, skin or joints. Another type, Crohn’s disease,
usually involves the large or small intestine and results
in deep ulcers and inflammation. Both types of IBD are often
highly debilitating. This can interfere with the education,
work and social life of those suffering from these conditions.
Until recently, treatment for IBD was a choice between either
steroids or preparations based on old salicylate compounds.
Both types of medicine were often poorly tolerated. More recent
treatments have used biological agents such as antibodies
that block the key substances involved in causing the local
intestinal injury. Although useful, these agents are not without
some side effects that can limit treatment. On-going research
is focused on the interplay between the local vascular and
inflammatory substances in the small blood vessels and tissue
that underpin the disease. This is showing how the body’s
own defensive mechanisms can be copied for the development
of new drugs to prevent and heal IBD.
Another cause of ulcerative conditions and bleeding in the
intestines are medicines such as aspirin and other non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) used for pain and arthritis.
These commonly cause bleeding in the stomach, but in long-term
treatment intestinal side effects also frequently occur. Recent
research indicates that the mechanisms causing these effects
in the intestine differ from those on the stomach, and involve
both vascular and inflammatory processes. Because effects
of these drugs in the intestines resemble some aspects of
IBD, a deeper understanding of these actions may lead not
only to new ways to avoid the side effects of these widely
used drugs, but also to new approaches to treat IBD.
The William Harvey Research Foundation needs funds
to continue supporting this new research on (i) the processes
involved in IBD and the identification of novel targets for
new IBD drugs, and (ii) the mechanisms by which certain drugs
can cause intestinal injury and ulcers, in order to eliminate
such effects.
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