Treatments for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Treatment for inflammatory bowel disease aims to control symptoms and reduce inflammation in the bowel and throughout the body. Controlling inflammation is important to manage complications and improve quality of life. Hospitalization may be needed to control symptoms of severe flare-ups.

Treatment involves the following:

• Lifestyle changes

• Medications
• Surgery
• Alternative and complementary therapiesfor Crohn's disease
• Alternative and complementary therapies for ulcerative colitis

Other experimental therapies are still being studied for use in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. These therapies are not yet approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA); you may want to ask your doctor about taking part in a clinical trial.

References:

American Gastroenterological Association website. Available at: http://www.gastro.org/ . Accessed March 6, 2006.

Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America website. Available at: http://www.ccfa.org/ . Accessed March 6, 2006.

National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse website. Available at: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ . Accessed March 6, 2006.

Primary Care Medicine . 4th ed. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2000.