Author Topic: Digestive Day event at Aga Khan University Hospital  (Read 5172 times)

Offline fizza bano

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Digestive Day event at Aga Khan University Hospital
« on: July 29, 2010, 11:33:01 AM »
Digestive Day event at Aga Khan University Hospital
Karachi:Taking good care of one’s diet and eating habits is key to managing digestive disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), said experts speaking at a Digestive Day event held at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH).

People, who get abdominal cramps and pain, suffer from frequent and bloody diarrhea, along with losing weight may have IBD. “It is a young person’s disease, usually affecting people at a time when they are finishing their education, starting a family or building a career,” said Dr Hasnain Shah, Consultant Gastroenterologist at AKUH.

IBD is group of two disorders that causes the intestines to become inflamed over and over again: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Although they may have some features in common, they differ in where they occur and what happens subsequently. Dr Saeed Hamid, Consultant Gastroenterologist, AKUH, pointed out that Crohn’s disease causes ulcers – open wounds – in the small and large intestines while ulcerative colitis usually occurs in the large intestine and towards the rectal area (a large bowel ending towards the anus). “Crohn’s is also more severe as many layers of the intestinal wall get inflamed while in ulcerative colitis, the lining is affected,” he said.

The disorder typically starts with a cramp in the abdomen accompanied by frequent diarrhea, often with mucus or blood. Dr Shah said that in some cases, the diarrhea is so severe that a person may become weak from sickness and needs to be hospitalised. Usually, however, the symptoms tend to appear sporadically and there may be long periods without any symptoms at all.

“What triggers IBD is unknown,” said Dr Khalid Mumtaz, Consultant Gastroenterologist, AKUH, “but some experts believe that a defective immune system may cause antibodies to injure the colon (last part of the digestive system).” Others speculate that an unidentified microorganism is responsible. He added that probably there are a number of factors that causes IBD.

Blood and stool tests can rule out infections that mimic IBD. Sometimes a sigmoidoscopy or a colonoscopy, of the entire colon, may be done using a thin, long tube to look inside the intestines. A biopsy, a small sample of tissue, can also be taken during the endoscopy.

Dr Shahab Abid, Consultant Gastroenterologist, AKUH, said that several medical treatments are available and the goal of the treatment is to reduce the inflammation. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as aminosalicylates are the first line of treatment for suffers of mild IBD or those maintaining remission in moderate to severe cases. Corticosteroids are highly effective in treating severe cases but with potential adverse side effects if used long-term. Dr Abid revealed that certain immune system suppressants can be effective at times, often as a replacement for long term steroids. Infliximab is a new drug that has increasingly used to control IBD when other medicines are not effective.

“Surgery is not an option with Crohn’s disease,” said Dr M. Salih, Consultant Gastroenterologist, AKUH, “but it can be when ulcerative colitis becomes severe.”

Colon cancer is a concern in long-standing ulcerative colitis, especially if the disorder begins during childhood and has been present for eight to ten years, or when a family history of cancer exists.The news

Offline Pouserz

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Re: Digestive Day event at Aga Khan University Hospital
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2018, 09:18:56 AM »
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