Ulcerative Colitis: Are New Medications Being Investigated?

New ulcerative colitis treatments are being researched daily through clinical trials in dozens of different medical research facilities and universities. At least 270 clinical trials related to new ulcerative colitis treatments are either being conducted right now, or have recently been completed, according to the National Institutes of Health in the United States. New ulcerative colitis treatments that may be developed from these trials could help more than 600,000 people in the United States alone.

Ulcerative colitis is rarely fatal. Approximately 300 deaths result from it annually in the United States. Although mortality rates are low compared to some other diseases (like colon cancer), ulcerative colitis is still regarded as a serious intestinal and colon disorder. There are more than 800,000 hospitalizations annually. Doctors write approximately two million prescriptions for ulcerative colitis medications every year.

Ulcerative colitis gets its name because inflammation causes ulcers to grow in the lining of the colon and intestines. These ulcers may produce pus and often bleed..

Medical researchers have not been able to develop any cures for ulcerative colitis. A number of ulcerative colitis medications (described below) may help alleviate painful symptoms These drugs are also beneficial because they can decrease inflammation, lower the chances of complications, reduce blood and nutritional deficits, and arrest further progression of the illness. Plus, ulcerative colitis medicine may help damaged tissues heal, prevent new flare ups, and lower the necessity of surgery in the future.

Your doctors will choose ulcerative colitis treatments and medications based on any possible complications you may be experiencing and the section of the colon or intestines where the disease is located. He or she will also consider how advanced the disorder has become.

When patients have mild to moderate ulcerative colitis, the doctor will generally choose aminosalicylates as the first course of treatment. There are usually two medications that doctors choose first for disorders at this stage. They are called sulfasalazine or mesalamine. Aminosalicylates have three main goals: raising the chances of remission, keeping the disease inactive, and reducing inflammation. Most of the time, aminosalicylates are all you will need to keep the disorder in remission. Remission is defined as a period of time in which you are free of symptoms.

Sometimes however, aminosalicylates will not be effective. The next choice of medications would then be corticosteroids. Corticosteroids are intended mainly to decrease inflammation, and they won’t be used anymore once inflammation is under control. As soon as inflammation goes down, your physician will probably recommend that you start taking aminosalicylates again.

You may need to try other medications if aminosalicylates and corticosteroids are ineffective in bringing your disorder into remission. Typically, such medicine would include immunomodulators, cyclosporine, and infliximab. The goal of these medications is to reduce inflammation – and therefore symptoms – by modulating the response of your immune system to your illness.

Pregnant women with ulcerative colitis should discuss medications with their doctor. Most doctors will permit pregnant women to take aminosalicylates and corticosteroids. This is particularly true if ulcerative colitis poses a bigger threat to the health of the unborn child than the drugs. A number of ulcerative colitis medications are on the market which are based on the seriousness of symptoms and the stage of the pregnancy.

A number of recent research projects have demonstrated that the nicotine patch may help reduce the symptoms of ulcerative colitis. Researchers have not been able to determine, however, whether the nicotine patch really inhibits flare ups. It’s also unclear how long benefits of using the patch last. Not only that, but there can other harmful side effects from nicotine – including addiction. This leads most doctors to suggest the nicotine patch only as a last resort after other treatments have failed.

As noted above, hundreds or researchers and medical scientists are conducting studies to learn why we get ulcerative colitis, the damage it causes to the colon and intestines, and new treatments that are more effective than what we have now. Their efforts, we hope, will soon pay off with the development of new drugs and ulcerative colitis treatments – possibly even in an ulcerative colitis cure.

Related topics: ulcerative colitis treatment options and new ulcerative colitis medicine. Neal Kennedy is a retired TV and radio journalist. To read more of his articles, click on the human colon.