Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) should be given a different treatment option in order to combat its negative effects such as malnutrition and growth retardation. According to Dr. Raanan Shamir of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine and Schneider Children’s Medical Centre, steroid-based medications greatly help adult patients since they only want to feel better.
In pursuit to find alternative IBD medication for children, Dr. Shamir showed that a nutritional formula that was first developed for astronauts. This supplement puts 60-70% of children with Crohn’s disease, a common IBD disorder, into remission — a success rate similar to that of traditional steroid-based drugs, but without side effects like malnutrition and growth retardation.
From ScienceDaily:
Dr. Shamir’s research was inspired by the problem of malnutrition and growth retardation in children battling IBD. Steroids and other biological agents, the most common treatment for IBD, were having an adverse affect on the children’s growth, despite their effectiveness in adult patients.
Dr. Shamir’s quest to educate the international medical community about the benefits of nutrition therapy has been an uphill battle.
Not all physicians know it works, and it’s much easier to give someone a prescription than try to work with the child.”
Dr. Shamir and his team of researchers have worked to show the international medical community that nutrition was equal to steroids in the treatment of children with IBD. “We published the most recent meta-analysis to show that nutrition is as good as steroids as a first-line therapy for Crohn’s disease,” he says.
This specially-designed powder containing all the daily nutrients that a person needs is used by astronauts, so it is now commonly available on pharmacies. According to Dr. Shamir proved that this nutrition-based therapy is as good as steroid as first-line treatment for Crohn’s disease – a common IBD disorder.
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