Living with inflammatory bowel disease
New medicines and emotional support help young adults cope with IBD
March 05, 2015
More than 1.4 million Americans have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)—the umbrella term for Crohn’s
disease and ulcerative colitis. Symptoms are often painful and distressing, including severe stomach
cramps, rectal bleeding and frequent diarrhea, sometimes requiring up to 15 trips to the bathroom each day.
“Many patients are teens and young adults,” says Dr. Nimisha Parekh, director of the Inflammatory Bowel
Disease Program at UCI Health. “For young people, it’s especially hard to cope with IBD.” Parekh is one
of only a few fellowship-trained IBD specialists in the country.
If you have IBD, working with a team of specialists to customize your treatment is essential. This includes
experts in both the physical and emotional aspects of the disease. The UCI Health Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program combines the expertise of doctors from many specialties, including gastroenterology,
colorectal surgery, radiology and pathology. Working together, they provide a definitive diagnosis and the newest
medical and surgical treatments, including access to clinical trials. The team also includes specialized nurses,
nutritionists and social workers, all of whom are sensitive to the social and emotional challenges posed by IBD.
“This is an exciting time in the field of inflammatory bowel disease, as there are many new medications
available and more in the pipeline,” says Parekh. “With individualized management plans, patients with
this chronic condition do very well.”
To learn more, visit ucirvinehealth.org/IBD.
— UCI Health Marketing & Communications
Featured in UCI Health - Winter 2014/2015 Issue
