file.newsgroup.med.59181 Maven / Gradle / Ivy
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: diet for Crohn's (IBD)
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (John Eyles) writes:
>
> A friend has what is apparently a fairly minor case of Crohn's
> disease.
>
> But she can't seem to eat certain foods, such as fresh vegetables,
> without discomfort, and of course she wants to avoid a recurrence.
>
> Her question is: are there any nutritionists who specialize in the
> problems of people with Crohn's disease ?
>
> (I saw the suggestion of lipoxygnase inhibitors like tea and turmeric).
>
> Thanks in advance,
> John Eyles
All your friend really has to do is find a Registered Dietician(RD). While
most work in hospitals and clinics, many major cities will have RD's who
are in "private practice" so to speak. Many physicans will refer their
patients with Crohn's disease to RD's for dietary help. If you can get
your friend's physician to make a referral, medical insurance should pay for
the RD's services just like the services of a physical therapist. The
better medical insurance plans will cover this but even if your friend's
plan doesn't, it would be well worth the cost to get on a good diet to
control the intestinal discomfort and help the intestinal lining heal.
Crohn's disease is an inflammatory disease of the intestinal lining and
lipoxygenase inhibitors may help by decreasing leukotriene formation but
I'm not aware of tea or turmeric containing lipoxygenase inhibitors. For
bad inflammation, steroids are used but for a mild case, the side effects
are not worth the small benefit gained by steroid use. Upjohn is developing
a new lipoxygenase inhibitor that should greatly help deal with
inflammatory diseases but it's not available yet.
Marty B.