A doctor at Sainte-Justine Hospital has just published a study which shows that certain medications might prevent a relapse in children with Crohn’s disease.
Crohn’s disease affects the intestines. As it causes the appearance of ulcers, it is often associated with symptoms such as stomach pain, diarrhea and blood in the stool.
Over the past decade, Canada has seen a significant increase in inflammatory bowel disease.
This is one of the reasons that led Dr. Prévost Jantchou, clinician and researcher at the CHU Ste-Justine to put his expertise at the service of young patients suffering from this disease.
Dr. Jantchou has just published a study which shows that the use of certain drugs can prevent a relapse in children.
“It’s what you can inject under the skin, like insulin, small vaccines. Next to that, we have those that are administered in the form of an infusion, like a solute. If they are used very early, we go from 70% of recurrences to 50% of recurrences, ”he told TVA Nouvelles, presenting the promising treatments he prescribes to some patients treated in the gastrointestinal unit. -enterology at CHU Ste-Justine.
Mikael, a 10-year-old boy with Crohn’s disease, receives the intravenous treatment once a month at the hospital.
The latter claims to have more energy since he submits to it regularly.
However, since the unit cost of each treatment is $800, some insurance companies are reluctant to reimburse them and favor certain less effective approaches, much to the dismay of doctors.
The gastroenterologists are therefore increasing their research in order to find other treatments to further improve the lives of the 600 young patients who, like Mikael, are affected by Crohn’s disease at the CHU Ste-Justine.
