Crohn’s and colitis study probes relapse triggers
January 2017: This large-scale study, led by CGEM researchers, aims to understand the triggers for flare-ups in sufferers of inflammatory bowel disease.
People with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are being invited to take part in an Edinburgh-led study that aims to shed light on the everyday factors that may influence flare-ups. To sign up to this study please email: predicct@ed.ac.uk.
Around one in 200 people in the UK are living with these diseases and young people are particularly affected. Symptoms include severe abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, nausea and tiredness. They can be extreme enough to affect all aspects of day to day life and there is no cure.
This research study will collect information from 1500 people with either of the debilitating bowel conditions, and seeks to better understand how changes in diet and lifestyle might help sufferers. Participants will be asked to complete online questionnaires and provide mouth swabs and stool samples so that researchers can analyse their DNA and examine bacteria living in their gut.
Experts will compare information from those who experience flare-ups in the course of the study to those who do not. They hope to pinpoint everyday factors that could contribute to the onset of symptoms.
Chief Investigator Dr Charlie Lees, Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, Consultant Gastroenterologist at Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital, and CGEM affiliate, said: “Patients often ask us whether there are any changes to their diet or lifestyle that would help to better manage their symptoms. We hope the findings from this study will give us the evidence base needed to provide better advice for those living with these debilitating diseases.”
The PREdiCCt study, led by the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian, is recruiting patients from across Scotland and England.
To sign up to this study please email: predicct@ed.ac.uk.