The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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  • Recent Comments

    Exclusion diet + nutraceutical therapy to treat juvenile Crohn’s disease

    Encouraging findings in a small group of patients are reported by researchers at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, in New York.

    First, the details.

    • 6 patients with moderately severe Crohn’s disease participated.
      • 2 had completed growth.
    • All were treated with an exclusion diet with nutraceutical therapy.
    • Adequate caloric and protein intake for catch-up weight was prescribed.
    • Dairy products, certain grains and carrageenan containing foods were eliminated.
      • Carrageenan is a seaweed extract.
    • Nutraceuticals, consisting of fish peptides, bovine colostrum, Boswellia serrata, curcumin, and a multivitamin were taken daily.
    • Lactobacillus GG, a probiotic, was administered twice weekly.
    • Recombinant human GH (rhGH) was administered daily.

    And, the results.

    • Within 2 months of starting the exclusion diet with nutraceutical therapy all 6 patients went into remission and stopped taking all pharmacological drugs.
    • 3 patients have remained in sustained remission for 4 to 8 years.
    • 1 patient with very severe Crohn’s disease had recurrence of symptoms after being in complete remission for 18 months.
    • 1 patient was in remission for 3 years but symptoms recurred when she became less compliant with the exclusion diet with nutraceutical therapy.
    • 1 recently treated patient remains in remission after 6 months.
    • With the addition of rhGH, the 4 growing patients had good-excellent growth response

    The bottom line?

    It’s a very small group of patients.

    The authors believe, “These findings justify larger controlled trials to evaluate the long-term benefit of compliance to exclusion diet with nutraceutical therapy in both juvenile and adult Crohn’s disease patients.”

    More information from 1 of the patients in this study is available here.

    2/13/10 23:05 JR

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