iansmith
Apr12-04, 08:49 AM
Canadian researchers have isolated a gene that predisposes people to Crohn's disease, a painful disorder that strikes young people and that has sharply increased in frequency in recent years.
The discovery will have an immediate impact, allowing researchers to distinguish more readily between Crohn's and colitis, both inflammatory bowel diseases.
"The diagnostic benefits will be immediate," said Katherine Siminovitch, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. "That's important because you really want to catch these diseases in the early stages . . . then you can start a therapy that might put patients in remission and even eradicate the disease."
Dr. Siminovitch said, however, that development of new drugs based on this genetic finding is a long-term prospect; new treatments are probably a decade away.
The research, published in today's edition of the medical journal Nature Genetics, is nonetheless welcomed by people suffering from Crohn's disease.
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040412.wucrohns12/BNStory/Front/
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/ng/journal/v29/n2/full/ng1001-223.html
The discovery will have an immediate impact, allowing researchers to distinguish more readily between Crohn's and colitis, both inflammatory bowel diseases.
"The diagnostic benefits will be immediate," said Katherine Siminovitch, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. "That's important because you really want to catch these diseases in the early stages . . . then you can start a therapy that might put patients in remission and even eradicate the disease."
Dr. Siminovitch said, however, that development of new drugs based on this genetic finding is a long-term prospect; new treatments are probably a decade away.
The research, published in today's edition of the medical journal Nature Genetics, is nonetheless welcomed by people suffering from Crohn's disease.
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040412.wucrohns12/BNStory/Front/
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/ng/journal/v29/n2/full/ng1001-223.html