Let’s admit it – Crohn’s disease is not something that the vast majority of sufferers are thankful for. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. It’s a thorn in our side at best, and a disease that debilitates patients until it steals their very life at worst. As most of America gathers for Thanksgiving to count their blessings, I’ve struggled to find anything positive about Crohn’s disease.
History has a way of repeating itself. That is why, when John Aitken suggested I read The Forgotten Plague: How the Battle Against Tuberculosis was Won – and Lost by Frank Ryan, M.D., I jumped at the chance. Indeed, I have not been disappointed. It’s a fascinating book, rich with detail that I have found applicable to the research being conducted now with Crohn’s disease. Highlighted below are some passages from the first half of the book that seemed of particular interest. I hope that you will enjoy the brief foray into the history of tuberculosis, and notice some parallels to the fight against Crohn’s disease today.
In 2011, Dr. William Chamberlin, Prof. Thomas Borody and Dr. Jordana Campbell collaborated on a meta-analysis of the published Medline studies from 1976 to 2011 which discussed Crohn’s disease patients treated with antibiotic combination therapy. The article, Primary Treatment of Crohn’s Disease: Combined Antibiotics Taking Center Stage, gives unbiased data on the effectiveness of antibiotic use in Crohn’s disease. For those of you who are short on time or find this type of technical reading difficult, we have attempted to summarize the key points.
MAP was first identified as a pathogen in the late 1800s, when it was determined to be the cause of Johne’s (pronounced YO-nees) disease in cattle. Johne’s disease, sometimes called paratuberculosis or Bovine Johne’s Disease (BJD), is a chronic, fatal, gastrointestinal wasting disease that primarily affects the small intestine of ruminants like cattle, deer, sheep, goats, antelope, bison and even camels!
On October 19, 2015 John Aitken and his team presented details about their Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) research to attendees of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) meeting in Hawaii. The poster that Mr. Aitken and his team presented is shared here. It discusses how his team has isolated Son of MAP in the blood of Crohn’s disease patients, a novel idea to many in the GI field.
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The following article appeared in the 2015 Crohn’s and Colitis Canada Gala Magazine, of which RedHill Biopharma was a Gold level sponsor. Interestingly, the article updates the two areas that Prof. Borody believed (in 2008) would be the key to future MAP research: detection methods and trials of MAP specific antibiotics.
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