I visited my GI today, and she wants me to take a fecal calprotectin test. I'd never heard of it so decided to check it out via Google. I'm not sure why she wants to do in now, post diagnosis, but the implications for the large number of folks undiagnosed seems great! http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/725672
Does anyone know if entocort would in any way alter the results?
A non-invasive, pre-endoscopic test
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Hi Jennifer,
Either she doesn't understand the way the test works, or she is using it to monitor the effectiveness of your Entocort treatment.
That implies that if you are not taking Entocort, then the test is a bit redundant, and she is confused, since it obviously should have been used before you were scoped, if she is trying to discover whether you have an IBD.
The fecal calprotectin test is a very good indicator of the effectiveness of a corticosteroid treatment. IOW, it's an inflammation monitor, so as the inflammation declines (IOW, if the treatment is effective), then the fecal calprotectin test results should decline also (at least the level should be much lower than it was before the treatment was started). Of course, since some patients don't show dramatic changes in fecal calprotectin levels, a baseline result prior to the beginning of the treatment would have been helpful for making an accurate assessment of the results of the later test (following treatment).
Tex
Either she doesn't understand the way the test works, or she is using it to monitor the effectiveness of your Entocort treatment.
That implies that if you are not taking Entocort, then the test is a bit redundant, and she is confused, since it obviously should have been used before you were scoped, if she is trying to discover whether you have an IBD.
The fecal calprotectin test is a very good indicator of the effectiveness of a corticosteroid treatment. IOW, it's an inflammation monitor, so as the inflammation declines (IOW, if the treatment is effective), then the fecal calprotectin test results should decline also (at least the level should be much lower than it was before the treatment was started). Of course, since some patients don't show dramatic changes in fecal calprotectin levels, a baseline result prior to the beginning of the treatment would have been helpful for making an accurate assessment of the results of the later test (following treatment).
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.