Breakthrough study more than doubles the genetic information about Crohn’s disease offering hope for better-targeted therapyfor millions of people with inflammatory bowel diseases

An international research study, published in The Lancet, has thrown into question the current method of treating Crohn’s disease – opening the door to a safer and more effective treatment option for sufferers of the chronic disease.

A small capsule that takes “snapshots” of the small intestine as it moves through the digestive tract helped doctors spot cases of Crohn’s disease that had gone undiagnosed for up to 15 years, according to researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Research from La Fe University Hospital in Valencia, Spain shows that capsule endoscopy diagnoses more Crohn’s disease recurrence after surgery than colonoscopy. Capsule endoscopy led to changes in therapy for more than half of the patients studied.

A team of Cornell University scientists have discovered that a novel group of E. coli bacteria – containing genes similar to those described in uropathogenic and avian pathogenic E. coli and enteropathogenic bacteria such as salmonella, cholera, bubonic plague – is associated with intestinal inflammation in patients with Crohn’s disease in their research paper published July 12 by “The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology.”

The use of biologic agents for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may benefit patients, but doctors need to consider the potential associated side effects in determining treatment course, according to a consensus paper published in this month’s issue of Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

Pediatrics researchers have identified a gene variant that raises a child’s risk of Crohn’s disease, a chronic and painful condition attributed to inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.