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Suggest Treatment For Ulcerative Colitis

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Posted on Thu, 12 Mar 2015
Question: My son was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis fourteen years ago. He was given IV infusions of a drug that put him in total remission. He hasn't had any trouble since then. A friend of ours is having the same trouble he did. I can't find the records, nor the doctor and I'm quite sure something new and improved has come along, but from my memory I want to say it was methotrexate. Could I be correct? Yet, nothing I read about UC even mentions it.
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Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (2 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Not for ulcerative colitis

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

nobody could guess what the drug was of course but methotrexate has been used for Crohn's disease which is a very similar inflammatory bowel disease. In ulcerative colitis though, no medical study has shown substantial improvement.
Perhaps you're confusing it for cyclosporine or 6-Mercaptopurine. Intravenous steroids have been used also.
The newer drugs (tumor necrosis factor inhibitors) were just making their appearance at that time, so I suppose it would be more likely that such an agent was not used back then.

I hope you find my answer helpful!

Kind Regards!
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1999

Answered : 3810 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Ulcerative Colitis

Brief Answer: Not for ulcerative colitis Detailed Answer: Hello, nobody could guess what the drug was of course but methotrexate has been used for Crohn's disease which is a very similar inflammatory bowel disease. In ulcerative colitis though, no medical study has shown substantial improvement. Perhaps you're confusing it for cyclosporine or 6-Mercaptopurine. Intravenous steroids have been used also. The newer drugs (tumor necrosis factor inhibitors) were just making their appearance at that time, so I suppose it would be more likely that such an agent was not used back then. I hope you find my answer helpful! Kind Regards!