National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease UK..

[angy]

Thought u guys might like to check out this uk site...
(NACC) The National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease.

This article on a "pill" is pretty interesting: hope this may help mc too...

Dutch group Philips has developed an "intelligent pill"

BBC Radio Scotland News today (12 November) broadcast information about a new kind of "intelligent robot" pill that might be useful in treating Colitis and Crohn's Disease. Richard Driscoll, Director of NACC, was interviewed and explained that the pill is only a prototype at this stage, but that it might enable some of the more powerful IBD drugs to be delivered direct to the affected area of the bowel instead of patients taking tablets or having injections or infusions. This might mean that patients could experience fewer side-effects from treatment as the drug would not be absorbed through the whole body.

These are the details provided by the developer:

Dutch group Philips has developed an "intelligent pill" that contains a microprocessor, battery, wireless radio, pump and a drug reservoir to release medication in a specific area in the body. Philips, one of the world's biggest hospital equipment makers, said that the "iPill" capsule, measures acidity with a sensor to determine its location in the gut, and can then release drugs where they are needed.

Delivering drugs to treat digestive tract disorders such as Crohn's disease directly to the location of the disease means doses can be lower, reducing side effects, Philips said.

While capsules containing miniature cameras are already used as diagnostic tools, those lack the ability to deliver drugs. The "iPill" can also measure the local temperature and report it wirelessly to an external receiver.

The company plans to present the "iPill" at the annual meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in Atlanta this month. The iPill is a prototype but is suitable for serial manufacturing,heres that link..

http://www.nacc.org.uk/content/home.asp

NACC has launched a new Information Sheet called "Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease: a guide for employers"....
NACC calls for applications for 2009 Medical Research Awards....

NACC has launched a new Information Sheet called "Staying well with IBD" and a new drug information sheet here....

http://www.nacc.org.uk/content/services/infoSheets.asp

[tex]

Angy,

I realize that sounds pretty good, when you first read it, but as I've said before - I'm not impressed by their "invention". Someone posted info about the "intelligent pill" that Phillips is working on, about a month or so ago, and as I said then, I don't understand why they feel that they have come up with such a "revolutionary" idea. That "intelligent pill" won't do anything that enteric-coated drugs won't already do. It determines it's location in the GI tract by sensing the pH, and then releases a medication at a certain preset pH level. Well, whooptie-do! That's exactly how Entocort EC works. It's also the way that Asacol works, and a lot of other enteric-coated drugs. They main difference is that they don't require a built-in computer, battery, radio and pump, which makes them much more affordable. There's nothing new about the idea of delivering medications based on pH readings.

The problem with delivering meds based on pH determination, is that the concept works fine on "normal" digestive systems, but someone with an IBD, or various other GI issues, does not have a normal digestive system, and may have corrupted pH levels. That's why the enteric-coated pills don't always work ideally, and it's also why the ridiculously expensive "intelligent pill" probably won't work any better at targeting the drug delivery.

All that Phillips has done, is to create an extremely expensive way to do what enteric-coated meds already do very simply and economically. Leave it to medical science to invent "new" ways to exploit old technology, in order to make a simple process so complicated that none of us can afford it. At least, that's how I see it.

That treatment will make a patient feel as though he or she is getting a state-of-the-art treatment, when in reality, they will simply be getting the same old treatment, but paying through the nose for it.

Tex

[angy]

Come to think of it... your absolutely correct tex!!! i was hoping it would be a little robot that would munch up that cc hehe!!!