Hope for Crohn's Disease patients as Scottish trial launches for treatment
It's hoped people with Crohn's Disease could be offered an improved quality of life, as Scottish patients take part in a new trial for fresh treatment options
Last updated 30th Sep 2022
Researchers hope they could offer fresh treatment options which would give Crohn's Disease patients an improved quality of life.
A form of irritable bowel disease (IBD) Crohn's causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive system. Symptoms can often be debilitating and can include diarrhoea, blood in stools, abdominal pain, and weight loss. Crohn’s disease is incurable, though it can be managed with treatments.
Some of the 26,000 Scots with the condition are being invited to take part in a trial which would combine biological medicine with a partially restrictive diet.
The study is being funded by a $2.1m grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and will begin in October 2022.
Led by the University of Glasgow and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), the study will involve patients from multiple Glasgow hospitals, as well as Edinburgh and Tayside.
It comes as we draw to an end our week of our special coverage on the condition.
READ MORE: Scotland needs to get better at earlier diagnosis of bowel disease
What's the plan?
Among the treatment options currently available to patients include biologic medication (“biologics”) that can slow or stop damaging inflammation, or EEN (Exclusive Enteral Nutrition), a liquid-only diet consisting of prepared supplements administered over a six to eight week period.
Unfortunately, no currently available treatment provides an effective solution for all patients. Prescribed medications are only effective in around 40-50% of patients, with 20% of people losing their response to drugs every year.
EEN is very effective for treating active Crohn’s disease. However, as it requires that patients only consume prepared supplements, with no solid food allowed for up to eight weeks, it can be very challenging to adhere to.
READ MORE: We've been speaking with Scots living with Crohn's:
'I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at just 13'
Researchers will look at pairing the two treatments and making the dietary limitation a less restrictive exercise, by allowing the patient still to consume half of their meals normally - instead of an entirely liquid intake.
The study will recruit 80 people with active Crohn’s disease who need treatment with biologics from six hospitals across Scotland. Patients will randomly be allocated to either standard treatment with biologics, or to treatment with biologics plus PEN (Partial Enteral Nutrition) for six weeks.
What the experts say
Konstantinos Gerasimidis, Professor of Clinical Nutrition at the University of Glasgow, said: “This novel dietary regime has the potential to transform the current treatment of Crohn’s disease, offering better disease control and a better quality of life for patients.
“Understanding the role of the microbiome in this process and its interaction with the diet and biologic therapy will also offer insights into the underlying pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease and may inform the development of novel personalised nutritional therapies. This high calibre study adds to our current research portfolio which aims to unravel the dietary causes of Crohn’s disease and to develop tolerable, side-effect free dietary therapies for long-term disease management.”
READ MORE: The symptoms of Crohn's Disease
Dr Jonathan Macdonald, Consultant in Gastroenterology at NHSGGC said: “Combining drug and dietary therapies as a strategy is a novel and exciting approach in Crohn’s disease research and we’re delighted to be playing such a key role in a study that we hope will help to improve the lives of patients. In NHSGGC, our focus is on providing the highest standard of patient-centred care at all times, and this study underlines this approach.
“While there is no cure for Crohn’s disease, we hope that this study will enable us to look at how we can help patients manage the condition while improving their quality of life.”