MSNBC.com has reported a story about a 55 year old Chinese farmer who, until recently, had lived his entire life without an anus. He suffered from a condition called “imperforate anus”, essentially meaning that his anus was not connected to his digestive tract correctly. An “imperforate anus” is typically corrected when someone is still an infant, at least in what are considered “first world” countries. Given that his parents didn’t have the money for the proper surgery when was born, the solution at the time was for him to receive a small colostomy near his scrotum. This was an imperfect a solution as he had to manually, “massage out” bowel movements using his hand. He also had to be careful about what he ate & used laxatives on a regular basis.

He recently finished saving enough money to get the proper surgery done & is now able to have normal bowel movements. There are many people who have to deal with colostomies, perhaps the thing that’s shocking about this story is that his condition is somewhat easy to fix by first world standards & the amount of time he had to endure with such a embarrassing & inconvenient condition. Despite the struggles he faced, he still got married & even had kids… Impressive.

James Marshall who had success in the cult TV show “Twin Peaks” as well as playing a role in the blockbuster movie “A Few Good Men” is currently in the midst of a trial against Accutane creator Roche. Marshall is contending that after starting a regimen of Accutane in 1992 he developed debilitating Crohn’s Disease which eventually lead to the removal of his colon. Due to his illness, Marshall states that the illness severely crippled him & left his career in ruins. Continue reading “Twin Peaks Actor James Marshall Suing Accutane Creator For $11 Million” »

Representatives Jesse Jackson Jr. & Ander Crenshaw teamed up recently to create the Congressional Crohn’s and Colitis Caucus. The aim of the new caucus is to raise awareness for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases such as Crohn’s Disease & Ulcerative Colitis. Republican representative Ander Crenshew personally knows the struggle that Inflammatory Bowel Diseases can cause due to the fact that he has a child with one of the diseases.

“As a parent of a child with Crohn’s and colitis, I have witnessed first-hand the often debilitating effects of this disease,” Crenshaw said, according to a press release. “Alongside Congressman Jackson, I am continuing to help raise much-needed awareness about issues related to Crohn’s and colitis — across party lines.”

Quote from Politico.com

This is not the first time that Crenshaw also has teamed up with others in the past to raise awareness about Inflammatory Bowel Disease. In 2009 he teamed up with NFL player David Garrad for the Take Steps Walk for Crohn’s and Kick-off Event.

A recent study from the Archives of Surgery is shedding some light on how well stomach band weight loss surgeries are at shedding the pounds. The study looked at the medical histories of 151 patients who had received some form of stomach banding surgery at least 12 years ago. Over half(54.3%, 82 patients) needed some form of follow-up after the initial surgery. Patients experienced minor complications 22% of the time & major complications 39% of the time. Only a little over half(51.4%) the patients still had their stomach band in place, of those the mean weight-loss seen by them was approximately 48%. Overall, 60% of patients stated that they were happy with the results of the surgery, regardless of the fact that not all of them saw major results. Given the fact that many had complications & only half the patients ended up keeping their device, the study suggests that stomach banding surgery has poor long term outcomes.

It’s definitely food for thought for those who may be thinking of surgical measures to help them reduce their weight. While the FDA has approved stomach band surgeries for people with body-mass indexes as low as 30, surgery should still be seen as a last resort after diet & exercise options have completely failed.

Oregon senator Robert Kruse is sponsoring Oregon Senate Bill 777 which aims to reduce the number of ailments medical marijuana can be used for as well creating stricter criteria regarding it’s use with ailments that would remain allowable. Additionally it would require patients to have a doctor verify their illness & eligibility every six months. Continue reading “Oregon Bill Threatens To Restrict Patient Access To Medical Marijuana” »

GoodBelly Splash, A Healthier Alternative In Your Grocer’s Cold Drink Case.

I recently reviewed GoodBelly BigShot, but for those who do not know about GoodBelly I’ll recap the main idea behind GoodBelly. GoodBelly is an organic, non-dairy, probiotic(Lactobacillus plantarum299v) drink. GoodBelly originally was just a single product but they have expanded their product line to offer GoodBelly BigShot, GoodBelly Splash, GoodBelly Plus & GoodBelly To-Go. The people at GoodBelly were kind enough to furnish me with some samples of GoodBelly Splash which I am reviewing today. Continue reading “Review – GoodBelly Splash Probiotic Drink” »

Writer Lia Serbyn has written a funny, but all too real article on the toll Irritable Bowel Syndrome can take on one’s relationships.

IBS doesn’t exactly enrich your love life. It behaves like a stalker slapped with a restraining order; it’ll show up any damn time it pleases because it knows you have no serious protection against it.

Her experiences are similar to mine. Irritable Bowel Syndrome affects all relationships, not just romantic ones. Even close friends & family can seemingly turn on you, becoming frustrated with your illness. Maybe it’s a survival of the fittest animal instinct that comes into play. The desire to leave the straggling Wildebeest behind the herd as a “decoy” to the lions. Perhaps it’s not as sinister as that… Perhaps it’s just frustration. You’d love to go on that long road trip, you’d love to go over for dinner or go out to a movie, you’d love to go to the beach… But you… Just… Can’t. Continue reading “Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome Interfering With Your Relationships?” »

Chelsea Rushton is a 22 year old mother of two who developed Gastroparesis after the birth of her second child. She also suffers from Fibromyalgia as well. Her husband works full time along with going to school. It is hard to imagine the strain this illness can cause on not just her, but on everyone around her.

“I want to cry when I tell you that we need, so badly, more studies on gastroparesis,” [her mother, Sherri Petersen] said. “We need the awareness to get out there that this is a real disease. This is not something that is in your head that many are told it is … She has been told many times over, ‘You don’t really hurt. Just go home and take a Tylenol.’ “

Chelsea’s surgery was scheduled for March 10th, 2011. Hopefully things went smoothly. We wish her the best in her recovery & hopefully her rehabilitation from Gastroparesis.

You can read the full story at The Standard-Examiner.

 

recent study coming out of Penn State University is showing more positive results for the opiod antagonist Naltrexone. They studied 40 people who had active Crohn’s Disease and gave them a daily, orally administered, 4.5mg dose of Naltrexone or a placebo. Eighty percent of those treated with Naltrexone stated that they had improvement in their symptoms, 78% had confirmed benefit via endoscopy & 33% went into remission. Naltrexone had a huge lead against placebo, for example while 33% went into remission on Naltrexone, only 8% went into remission while taking the placebo. Overall it looks like Naltrexone may be of great help to those with Crohn’s Disease. Hopefully the positive results will continue as more studies are done.

For those with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Naltrexone might be of use as well. There is another opioid based antagonist that’s being studied called Mu-Delta. It’s somewhat different than Naltrexone & the manufacturer is focusing on Irritable Bowel Syndrome specifically.

More Info:

LowDoseNaltrexone.org

“WANTED: Crohn’s End” is a documentary that will feature people with various digestive conditions(Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn’s Disease & Ulcerative Colitis) who are using natural alternative treatments. The director(Reid Kimball) has Crohn’s Disease himself. He has regained his quality of life after starting the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. During the documentary he will be taking part by trying out some of these additional alternative treatments in search of an effective cure for Crohn’s Disease.

The documentary will highlight the fact that for many, drugs may not be effective and might even make their situation worse. It will focus on the healing that can come from things like diet changes, herbs, supplements, probiotics or even alternative therapies such as Helminthic Therapy.

Overall this looks to be a  fascinating documentary & could be a real eye opener for those who are struggling with these conditions, but may not know there are other things they can try outside the scope of modern medicine.

“WANTED: Crohn’s End” reached it’s Kickstarter funding goal on March 8th, 2011. There is no firm release date at this time, but for now you can view the trailer on the WANTED: Crohn’s End website.

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