Health & Fitness Tools

Are There Many New Ulcerative Colitis Medicines Being Investigated?

15th November, 2010 - Posted by health news - No Comments

There is ulcerative colitis treatment research being done in dozens of medical research labs, universities and drug companies every day. Approximately 270 clinical trials aimed at finding new ulcerative colitis treatments are either underway at present or have recently been completed. These numbers come from the National Institutes of Health in the United States. Advances in ulcerative colitis treatments that are developed from these trials could ease ulcerative colitis pain for about 600,000 sufferers in the U.S., and millions of others around the world.

Approximately 300 ulcerative colitis patients die each year in the United States, so the mortality rate for this disorder is fairly low. Although mortality rates are low compared to some other diseases (like colon cancer), ulcerative colitis is still regarded as a serious intestinal and colon disorder. There are more than 800,000 hospitalizations annually. Doctors write approximately two million prescriptions for ulcerative colitis medications every year.

Ulcerative colitis is characterized by inflammation in the lining of the intestines. This inflammation cause ulcers which bleed and fester..

Medical researchers have not been able to develop any cures for ulcerative colitis. Medications for ulcerative colitis have been developed (see below) that relieve the pain from symptoms. Medications may help decrease inflammation, lessen the risk of complications, replace blood and nutritional losses, and and prevent any further progression. Furthermore, ulcerative colitis medications help damaged tissues heal, limit flare ups and may postpone – or even prevent – the need of surgery.

Your doctors will choose ulcerative colitis treatments and medications based on any possible complications you may be experiencing and the section of the colon or intestines where the disease is located. He or she will also consider how advanced the disorder has become.

Patients who are still in the mild to moderate range will generally receive aminosalicylates as a first course of treatment. Sulfasalazine or mesalamine are two of the most frequently used medications in these cases. Aminosalicylates have three main goals: raising the chances of remission, keeping the disease inactive, and reducing inflammation. In many cases, aminosalicylates work well enough to keep ulcerative colitis in remission, which is considered to be a period of time without symptoms.

When aminosalicylates don’t work well enough, corticosteroids are usually the next choice. The main purpose of corticosteroids is to eliminate inflammation, and they’ll only be used as long as it takes to bring inflammation under control. Once this goal has been reached, your doctor will probably resume aminosalicylate treatments.

Different medications may be needed if neither aminosalicylates nor corticosteroids bring your ulcerative colitis under control and into remission. Generally, these medications would include cyclosporine, immunomodulators, and infliximab. The main purpose of these medications is to regulate the response of your immune system to your disease. By doing so, there will be less inflammation, and therefore, fewer symptoms.

Women who are pregnant should be sure to discuss ulcerative colitis drugs with their doctor. Most doctors will permit pregnant women to take aminosalicylates and corticosteroids. This is particularly true if ulcerative colitis poses a bigger threat to the health of the unborn child than the drugs. A number of ulcerative colitis medications are on the market which are based on the seriousness of symptoms and the stage of the pregnancy.

The nicotine patch may actually have benefits as an ulcerative colitis treatment, according to several studies. At the moment though it’s not clear if the patch can really help prevent flare ups and how long any potential benefits may last. Nicotine, however, has some potentially harmful side effects and can also lead to addiction. Because of this, most doctors will only recommend the nicotine patch if all other medications have failed.

Once again, it’s encouraging to know there are hundreds of researchers working on finding new ulcerative colitis drugs and treatments. Their efforts, we hope, will soon pay off with the development of new drugs and ulcerative colitis treatments – possibly even in an ulcerative colitis cure.

Related topics: new treatment for ulcerative colitis and ulcerative colitis new medicine. Neal Kennedy is a retired TV and radio journalist. To read more of his articles, click on the colon.