New treatments a boon for rural Crohn's patients

(NC)—Highway 63 is a long narrow, two-lane highway that unfurls its way ribbonlike south from Fort McMurray to the larger urban centres of Alberta. Long and wearying though the drive may be, for many Crohn's patients in northern Alberta, this is their highway of hope: the only route to the medical care they need.

As in Alberta, rural patients across Canada must often travel long distances to get care for chronic illnesses such as Crohn's disease, an inflammatory illness of the gastrointestinal tract.

However, new advances in treatment are making it easier than ever to successfully manage Crohn's disease at home. The newest biological therapy, for example, can be self-injected anywhere. Whereas before patients had to travel to a hospital or clinic for treatment, they now have an option that allows them to stay put. Biologics work by targeting the auto-immune response that causes the inflammation, often putting patients into remission.

"Anytime you have something that is formulated for convenience and compliance, it helps rural patients," says Edmonton gastroenterologist Dr. Richard Fedorak. He estimates 60 per cent of his patients come from outside the Edmonton region, driving from four to eight hours each way for an appointment.

The drive is more than just inconvenient and long. Crohn's patients may experience severe diarrhea and cramping and many must forego eating anything before and during the lengthy drive, Fedorak said.

The disease tends to strike people between ages 15 and 35. The Atlantic provinces have the highest prevalence of Crohn's disease in Canada, followed closely by Alberta and Manitoba.

Dr. Fedorak notes it may take rural patients longer to get diagnosed. On average it takes more than three years to diagnose Crohn's, because symptoms vary and may be vague. As medical procedures needed to diagnose Crohn's may be difficult to access, patients living in rural areas may experience the discomfort and pain of the disease for a longer time than those residing in or near urban centres.

He advises patients to talk to their doctors about new treatment options such as the latest self-injected biologic therapy that may be administered anywhere and so reduce the need for long journeys to obtain medical care. For more information about Crohn's disease, visit www.ccfc.ca.

Source: www.newscanada.com