Budesonide Provides Lasting Relief For Crohn's Disease Patients

Four double-blind, placebo-controlled trials were conducted withidentical protocols in which patients with Crohn's Disease, andmedically induced remission, received a treatment of oral budesonidefor 12 months. Results showed that budesonide taken at 6 mg/day iseffective for prolonging time to relapse and for significantly reducingrates of relapse.

"Long-term treatment with budesonide is well-tolerated and thefrequency and types of adverse events are similar to placebo," stateslead researcher,William J. Sandborn, MD. "Safety of a long-termmedication is obviously important, but how well a patient toleratestheir medication is also important and can affect patient adherence totherapy."

Crohn's disease is a long-term disease that results from inflammationof the digestive tract. It is a debilitating sickness, even forpatients who are classified as having mild to moderate disease.Currently, there are no treatment options available that preventsrecurrence of symptoms.

"As stated, this disease is recurring in nature, so extending the timea patient can be symptom-free or with diminished symptoms is animportant feature of treatment. Budesonide capsules are a treatmentoption for Crohn's disease that has been shown in studies not only tobe very effective in relieving symptoms, but also in extending the timebefore patients experience a recurrence."

This study is published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Dr.William J. Sandborn is a board certified gastroenterologist withspecific expertise in inflammatory bowel disease. He has publishedextensively in this field, both nationally and internationally.

About The American Journal of Gastroenterology
The American Journal of Gastroenterology, the official publication ofthe American College of Gastroenterology, is THE clinical journal forall practicing gastroenterologists, hepatologists and GI endoscopists.With an impact factor of 4.716, it is the authoritative clinical sourcein the field of gastroenterology. With a broad-based, rigorous,interdisciplinary approach, the journal presents the latest importantinformation in the field of gastroenterology including originalmanuscripts, meta-analyses and reviews, health economic papers, debatesand consensus statements of clinical relevance in gastroenterology. Thereports will highlight new observations and original research, resultswith innovative treatments and all other topics relevant to clinicalgastroenterology. Case reports highlighting disease mechanisms orparticularly important clinical observations and letters on articlespublished in the Journal are included.

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