Crohn’s disease can cause inflammation as it is known to be an autoimmune disease, in which the body’s immune system assaults the gastrointestinal tract. It is distinguished by symptoms of diarrhea, abdominal pain and gastrointestinal bleeding. It is said to usually affect younger people and may lead to grave complications like bowel obstruction. It is categorized as a kind of an inflammatory bowel disease.
Robarts Clinical Trials from the University of Western Ontario is all set to conduct various trials to asses the treatment alternatives for Crohn’s disease. The outcome is anticipated to result in a more smooth treatment pathway and better disease supervision for patients.
Abbott, the global health care company, has offered a grant to investigate for the REACT (Randomized Evaluation of an Algorithm for Crohn’s Treatment) study.
“This trial builds on the results of recent studies that suggest use of combined therapy early in the course of treatment yields superior long-term results. We are excited about this project since it is the first large-scale, community-based evaluation of this approach. We expect that patients treated with combination therapy will be more likely to enter remission and rates of hospitalization and health-care utilization will be reduced,†explained Dr. Brian Feagan, the lead investigator for the study, Director of Robarts Clinical Trials and a professor in the Department of Medicine at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
The REACT study is all set to be conducted in around 40 gastroenterology practices in Canada and Belgium. The locations could be indiscriminately allocated to treat patients suffering from Crohn’s disease. They could be assigned to a traditional management approach having steady rise of drug therapy. The other set of people could be allocated to a newer strategy that comes with premature use of combined immunosuppression with a tumor necrosis factor alpha blocking drug and an anti-metabolite.
Traditional anti-inflammatory treatments like prednisone apparently reduce the symptoms. But they seem to be linked to significant side effects and are only partly effectual. Several patients apparently need surgery to treat the disease.