New Diet May Play a Big Roll in Crohn’s Disease {Interview}
It is estimated that there are as many as 3.1 million Americans living with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), according to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation (the Foundation). Living with IBD can have a profound impact on a patient’s quality of life, causing debilitating abdominal pain, bowel urgency, nausea, fatigue, and weight loss among other symptoms. While there are treatment options available, little is understood about diet’s role in the management of symptoms of Crohn’s disease. Researchers are working to change that through a brand new clinical research study being funded by the Foundation and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
DINE-CD is the first-ever national randomized trial of two dietary interventions to treat Crohn’s disease. Currently enrolling participants at 33 sites nationwide, DINE-CD will compare the efficacy of two diets–a Mediterranean style diet and the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)–in reducing the symptoms and inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease. Patient participation in this trial is critical to advancing research about the safety and effectiveness of new treatment options for the IBD community.
Join me in a recent interview with Dr. James Lewis, primary investigator of DINE-CD, as he discusses the latest research on IBD, including symptoms, current treatment methods, and how DINE-CD may change the way clinicians and patients view the role of diet in the treatment of IBD and progress in clinical research. Also in the interview, will be Andrea Meyer, a Crohn’s disease patient who is an active member of the study’s research team. Meyer will discuss why participation in clinical research like DINE-CD is important for IBD patients.
See the entire interview here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgNGYQZi4mI&feature=youtu.be
For more information, go to http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/ or http://www.clinicaltrials.com
More About Dr. James Lewis:
Dr. James Lewis has been actively involved in research related to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) since 1996 and has published more than 200 scholarly articles. His research covers a broad range of topics, but primarily focuses on issues related to medication safety and optimizing medical therapies. Examples include a series of studies investigating whether patients treated with various medications for IBD are at increased risk for cancer, infections, neurologic diseases and death, and whether such risks are warranted, given the effectiveness of the therapy. Dr. Lewis is one of a limited number of investigators to lead National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trials of novel therapeutic strategies for IBD. He has directed two clinical trials of rosiglitazone to treat ulcerative colitis and a trial of using biomarkers to adjust medical therapy for ulcerative colitis. He is currently on the steering committee of an NIH-funded trial examining the efficacy of methotrexate for ulcerative colitis. In recent years, Dr. Lewis and his colleagues have begun to focus their research on how diet and the microorganisms that inhabit the human intestine may influence the course of IBD. He is the principal investigator for the DINE-CD trial of specific carbohydrate diet versus a Mediterranean style diet for Crohn’s disease. Dr. Lewis hopes that this research may help to identify novel strategies for treating IBD that are not based on systemic immunosuppression. Dr. Lewis completed a residency in internal medicine and subsequently served as chief medical resident at Yale University. Following his residency, Dr. Lewis simultaneously completed a Masters of Science in Clinical Epidemiology and a fellowship in gastroenterology at Penn; he joined the faculty in 1998. His additional positions include senior fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, associate director of the Penn Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program, and director of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Clinical Research Program.
More About Andrea Meyer
Andrea Meyer is a long-time Crohn’s disease patient, as well as an advocate and volunteer. She is a patient advocate who works to empower those affected by IBD to be proactive participants in their disease experience. She is a multiple-time participant in the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Team Challenge endurance training and fundraising programs, and has held leadership roles with Camp Oasis, a summer camp for children with Crohn’s and colitis, and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Illinois Chapter. She is also a member of IBD Partners, a patient-powered research network Her efforts and interest in learning about her disease, and that which affects so many of her friends, has motivated her further interest and research into the relationship between IBD and diet- a topic that is important to so many others. Professionally, Andrea works for a software company and enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, and playing volleyball.
[RK1]Please note that the Foundation rebranded in February 2017. We dropped the of America from our name and no longer use an acronym. Moving forward please make sure that all materials refer to us as the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation on first mention and as the Foundation on every mention after.
* This interview opportunity is provided by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation
