posted by karen on 20 Feb 2011 at 5:29 pm

This article is a joke. I have had Ulcerative Colitis for 25 years and all the yogurt in the world has not put my disease in remission.I am now having surgery as my only means for a cure and believe me, you would never elect to have this surgery..it is a last resort.the government needs to seriously step up their efforts and funding to find the cause and cure forthis terribly debilitating chronic disease and all the drugs that are used to just mask the symptoms which also have devastating side effects. This illness has impacted my life at so many levels. I can no longer hold a job and spend most of my days feeling sick and miserable and I have been constantly on and off prednisone for years. I won’t even go into the terrible long term side effects of this drug.Just because there are not enough people with this disease as there are with heart conditions or cancer does not mean the government should not put more money into research for the cause and cure for this disease.the only real cure at the moment is surgery which consists of complete removal of your colon and creation of a jpouch with your small intestine that attempts to take the place of your colon and not without many limitations. the other alternative is a permanent ileostomy ( a procedure where they bring your small intestine to your abdomen wall and now you have a external bag attached to your abdomen 24/7 which collects your waste). Jpouch surgery is in no way a terrific option as this surgery comes with a whole set of other issues to deal with (incontinence,pouchitis, fistulas, bowel obstructions, and possibly failure and creation of a permanent ileostomy anyway). the only reason people choose this invasive surgery is to hopefully not end up with a permmenant ileostomy for the rest of their life. Please… scientists, researchers, government…step up your efforts to find the cause and cure for this debilitating disease. People often develop in during the prime of their life and it totally robs you of your humility, self esteem, confidence and your capabilities, in addition to the dreadful physical pain is causes you chronically.Ulcerative colitis has caused me more pain, turmoil and grief in my life than a physically well person will ever be able to comprehend. It is the ugliest of all diseases.

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