The tests that tell a flare apart from an infection or IBS, plus the red flags that mean get help now, not later.
Patient Downloads
Patient Downloads
Your IBD Travel Checklist
Medication, letters, vaccines, insurance and toilet access sorted before you go, practical prep for flying and holidays with Crohn’s or colitis.
Patient Downloads
Preparing for Your Doctor Appointment
A quick-reference checklist, your care team explained, and the questions worth asking, for GP, gastroenterology or dietetic appointments.
Tests & Treatments
A clear map of the IBS medicine cabinet: IBS Medications Explained
Standing in front of a pharmacy shelf, or scrolling through a repeat prescription list, many people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) find themselves wondering why they have been given one medicine and not another, and what each one is actually meant to do. With so many options addressing different symptoms, cramping, bloating, diarrhoea, constipation, it […]
Clinical Reviews
The role of pH in determining the species composition of the human colonic microbiota
Duncan SH, Louis P, Thomson JM, Flint HJ. Environmental Microbiology. 2009;11(8):2112-2122. doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2009.01931.x Background & Rationale Colonic pH varies by site, being more acidic proximally due to short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production during carbohydrate fermentation, and more neutral distally. While low pH is known to restrict pathogens such as Escherichia coli, its effect on competition among […]
Health News
FDA Approves Ustekinumab for Children With Ulcerative Colitis
Lead The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ustekinumab, sold as Stelara, for treating moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) in paediatric patients, according to reporting from the pharmacy publication Drug Topics. The decision extends an existing adult UC indication and a paediatric Crohn’s disease indication to a younger group of patients […]
Tests & Treatments
MRI, CT and Capsule Endoscopy: The Other Tests Used to Map IBD
For many people with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, colonoscopy becomes routine. But it only shows part of the picture, especially when disease sits higher up in the small bowel, beyond a standard camera’s reach. This is where MRI, CT and capsule endoscopy come in, offering different ways to see areas other tests cannot. What […]
Clinical Reviews
Colonocyte metabolism shapes the gut microbiota
Litvak Y, Byndloss MX, Bäumler AJ. Science, 2018, volume 362, issue 6418, article eaat9076. doi:10.1126/science.aat9076 Background & Rationale Dysbiosis, an imbalance in the composition of the colonic microbiota, has been associated with numerous chronic human conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colorectal cancer, obesity and metabolic disease. Despite this, the host mechanisms that establish and […]
Tests & Treatments
Your First Colonoscopy: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Prep and the Procedure
If you have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a condition where the immune system causes ongoing inflammation in the digestive tract, your gastroenterologist will likely recommend a colonoscopy at some point, whether to confirm a diagnosis, check treatment progress, or screen for changes in the bowel lining. For many people, the preparation beforehand is more daunting […]
Health News
Early Childhood Healthy Habits Linked to Lower IBD Risk
A large study of more than 100,000 children has found that a healthier lifestyle in the earliest years of life may be linked to a lower chance of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) later on. The link was strongest for Crohn’s disease. The findings suggest that everyday factors in infancy could play a part in […]