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New
drug therapy offers relief for patients with Crohn’s disease
A breakthrough drug therapy being performed at the Hospital of Saint Raphael may help improve the quality of life for people with Crohn’s disease, a painful, often-debilitating inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. In fact, Lorraine Dennehy of Milford got fast, noticeable relief from the stomach cramps, gas and diarrhea that plagued her for more than 20 years after just two intravenous infusions of the drug infliximab.
Using infliximab to treat Crohn’s disease is as new to the medical field as it is to Saint Raphael’s. The federal Food and Drug Administration approved the treatment only a year ago, yet Saint Raphael physicians were quick to see its benefits. “The infusions made me feel better than I have in years,” Dennehy says. “I’ve already recommended the therapy and Saint Raphael’s to others with the same condition.”
Crohn’s disease is a chronic condition that mainly affects the lower part of the small intestine and colon, says Ronald Vender, M.D., Saint Raphael’s section chief of Gastro-enterology, who co-authored a book on Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and is board-certified in gastroenterology. Symptoms, which are often hard to manage, include diarrhea, cramping, vomiting, fever and fatigue, as well as appetite and weight loss, abdominal pain and joint pain.
There is no known cause or cure. And the condition is typically marked by periods of remission and progression. Intervals between attacks can range from every few months to every few years, Vender adds, and most of the 500,000 Americans who suffer from Crohn’s are between 10 and 40 years old.
Intravenous infusions of infliximab, a genetically engineered antibody, help the condition by blocking the inflammatory agents that harm the intestinal tract. This allows the intestinal lining and tissues to heal and stops symptom flare-ups. The treatment, which usually takes two hours, can also be used to ease patients from one form of treatment to another.
Traditional treatment for Crohn’s disease involves surgery or a combination of several prescription drugs at one time, including steroids, plus vitamin supplements and diet restrictions. But none of these treatments has a permanent effect, and they often have to be repeated.
Dennehy, 40, had two surgeries to remove ob-structed sections of her intestinal tract, but frequent Crohn’s flare-ups persisted. She’s also had to take large doses of steroids, with “horrendous” side effects. Although she will probably have to take some prescription medications for the rest of her life, she’s hoping that infliximab will prevent the need for more steroids or surgery.
Clinical studies have proven Dennehy could get the results she hopes for, says Myron Brand, M.D., a Saint Raphael gastroenterologist. He believes infliximab “is one of the most significant advances in the past 20 years for treating Crohn’s disease.”
"It's provided promising results in treating patients with moderately-to severely-active disease that are intolerant to conventional therapies," adds Brand, who is a board-certified gastroenterologist and Connecticut medical advisory board chairman of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. He's also impressed by the recent data of the drug's effectiveness in prolonging remission, if used on a regular basis.
The drug, however, will not help everyone with Crohn’s disease. Some patients experience a relapse of symptoms a few months after their first infusion. And there are temporary side effects that can include a drop in blood pressure, shortness of breath, rapid pulse rate, nausea, fatigue and infection.
But for Dennehy, the threat of short-term side effects is more than worth the relief she’s gotten: “I’ve tried a lot of other treatments, some with terrible side effects. Infliximab has made my life — and my family’s life — better than I ever expected. I feel normal again. I feel great.”
 
This
page was last updated on 09/19/2001
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