The debilitating symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease can have significant impact on one’s quality of life. What makes the situation even worse is that there is no cure for IBD available, yet.
How is IBD Treated, Then?
Initially, IBD treatments only focus on providing symptomatic relief to patients. However, modern IBD treatments aim to achieve what is called ‘deep remission’.
What is Deep Remission?
Deep remission, also referred to as endoscopic remission, is a stage where not only the symptoms are absent, but also there is no inflammation, ulcers, or any other damage.
Deep remission is a newer concept in the field of IBD treatment, there is no formal, universally approved definition of it yet. However, it’s typically identified by the restitution of the intestinal lining – a phenomenon known as mucosal healing. In Crohn’s disease, the working definition of deep remission is a stage where the disease’s activity index falls below 150 and the patient exhibits complete mucosal healing.[ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23354742/ ]
Why Haven’t We Found a Cure for IBD, Yet?
In view of the fact that medical science has made revolutionary advancements in the past few decades, it often comes as a surprise for people to know that we don’t have a cure for inflammatory bowel disease, yet. Why is that so?
Dr. David T. Rubin, the Chief of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition and the Co-Director of the Digestive Diseases Center at the UChicago Medicine,[ https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/find-a-physician/physician/david-t-rubin ] hosted a discussion session, a few years ago, to answer this very question. According to him, the major reason why medical scientists have not been able to find a cure for IBD is because the disease is very complicated; a lot more than generally presumed. The two diseases that come under the umbrella term of Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis – are the conditions that possible involve overlapping of as many as 50 to 100 different diseases, Dr. Rubin highlighted.[ https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/gastrointestinal-articles/why-havent-we-cured-inflammatory-bowel-disease ] He also stressed upon the complex role of and the relationship between genetics and the environment that lead to IBD. All these factors make it highly difficult for medical experts to find a cure for the inflammatory bowel diseases.[ https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/gastrointestinal-articles/why-havent-we-cured-inflammatory-bowel-disease ]
Dr. Rubin also said that the complicated nature of the diseases is also the reason why we medical science has not found a cure for any chronic human disease, apart from infections.
The Sum Up
Inflammatory bowel disease may be incurable. However, this doesn’t mean the patients have to live with the debilitating symptoms. On time and regular treatment can significantly improve health and quality of life, and reduce (if not eliminate) the risk of complications by helping the patients achieve deep remission, which is the goal of modern IBD treatments.
Having said that, research on finding a possible cure for IBD is continuously going on, so don’t lose all hope. Scientists may find a cure in the future.
Comments