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Wanting to run to the toilet at every turn, frequent diarrhea, and even sitting on the toilet before sitting in a chair when entering the office or school. road disease”.

Lin Jingbin, director of the Liver Disease Prevention and Control Center of the Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen Medical University, said that the symptoms of these two diseases are similar, but if there is no differential diagnosis and treatment, the consequences will be very different, especially inflammatory bowel disease may cause anal abscess, anal fistula, and intestinal strictures. Surgical treatment is required, and it may also greatly increase the chance of developing bowel cancer.

Intestinal inflammation causes joint, skin, and joint problems, which increases the risk of bowel cancer

Inflammatory bowel disease (Inflammatory bowel disease, IBD) is divided into ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, which is an immune disorder. Director Lin Jingbin said that in Taiwan, the prevalence rate of ulcerative colitis is higher than that of Crohn’s disease, and it occurs more frequently in young people in their 20s, and the probability of men is higher than that of women. the trend of.

The cause of inflammatory bowel disease is unknown, and it may be related to genetic defects and improper use of drugs. Director Lin Jingbin believes that it is also related to the imbalance of intestinal bacteria caused by westernized diet. If it is not diagnosed and treated in time, it will also cause systemic reactions. In addition to intestinal symptoms such as anal fistula, anal abscess, and intestinal stenosis, complications may also occur in the skin, joints, and eyes.

In particular, chronic intestinal inflammation can easily lead to mucosal degeneration and increase the risk of colorectal cancer. Especially, the longer the disease time, the more intestinal invasion, and the more complications, the higher the risk of colorectal cancer.

Although both belong to inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease is still different from ulcerative colitis. Director Lin Jingbin further explained that the onset of ulcerative colitis is limited to the rectum and large intestine, while Crohn’s disease is the whole intestinal tract (large and small intestine). All will violate, the probability of complications is high, and the chance of requiring intestinal plastic surgery is high.

Biologics continuously relieve symptoms, help mucosal healing and reduce surgical risk

Patients with moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease often have to go to the toilet, seriously affecting the quality of life, work, making friends, and mood will all be affected. Fortunately, there are more and more therapeutic drugs for inflammatory bowel disease, ranging from traditional anti-inflammatory drugs to steroids, immunomodulators, immunosuppressants, etc., as well as newer biological agents, and most of them are covered by health insurance, which can help patients If the treatment reaches the target, that is, continuous relief of symptoms, imaging and pathological examinations show that the mucosa has healed, the chances of surgery, hospitalization and recurrence are reduced, there is an opportunity to reduce or stop steroids, and patients can have a normal life.

Among them, for patients with more severe ulcerative colitis and poor prognosis, the international treatment guidelines recommend adopting an inverted pyramid approach, starting with biological agents. At present, there are many types of biological agents available clinically, including different injection frequencies such as half-monthly, monthly, and three-monthly injections; different injection methods such as subcutaneous injection and intravenous injection; and different mechanisms for different inflammatory cytokines. The doctor will adjust the medicine according to the disease condition, lifestyle, occupation and curative effect.

However, due to limited health insurance resources, Director Lin Jingbin admitted that at present, patients with moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease do not respond well to traditional medicines, which leads to recurrent attacks, or when they cannot tolerate traditional medicines, they can use biological agents.

The relapse rate is high during the withdrawal period of health insurance, and doctors call for extending the payment time of biological agents

National health insurance pays biological agents for patients with moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease, which is a great virtue. at a disadvantage. Director Lin Jingbin pointed out that the use of biological agents for inflammatory bowel disease is only paid for one year. When the time is up, the drugs must be stopped regardless of the severity of symptoms. Instead, many patients relapse during this period of drug withdrawal, and even have to increase the use of steroids, which affects the long-term condition of the disease. The stability and control of the disease call on the government to give more care and help to the patients.

If people have abnormal defecation conditions such as recurrent diarrhea, constipation while wanting to defecate, Director Lin Jingbin suggests that they should seek medical examination, as long as calprotectin examination and capsule endoscopy imaging examination of the whole intestinal tract can be used to find out whether it is inflammation Sexual intestinal diseases. Once diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, there is no need to be afraid. With the advancement of medicine, there are currently many drugs that can help reduce inflammation, stabilize disease control, and achieve the goal of intestinal mucosa.