Links

The web is the web because it is a web of connections. I hope the links here prove useful to you.

The website IBD Sucks is aptly named. It is an older site, but has a very focussed set of links related to IBD. Back in the day, it was known as the QurlyJoe site. I still don’t know what that means. Now, there are chat rooms there for support. A simple registration is needed, but get inside and lots of links!

Mycobacteria getting you (and everyone else with Crohn’s) down? – The role of Mycobacteria paratuberculosis in Crohn’s disease has been of interest for many years. This pathogen in cattle causes Jonnes disease, an early model of Crohn’s disease. The role of M. paratuberculosis was not supported after years of research because it could not be isolated from humans with Crohn’s. Recently, however, very sensitive techniques of detection of bacterial DNA (the PCR technique) has started to show some positive results. A reader, Alan Kennedy, has put together an interesting site that is worth visiting . My concern about the site is that it is written from the view point of an advocate of the mycobacteria hypothesis. My reading of the literature is that 10 to 20% of patients will be found to have M. paratuberculos is relevant to their disease in some way. I think the current challenge is to figure out who those patients are, and to define what is the best therapy for them. Anyway, Alan has put a lot of work in the site and it summarizes a lot of data on why M. paratuberculosis should be studied. So, go visit his site.

Do you have a J-pounch, or is it an issue for your future? If so The J-Pouch Group, should be of interest to you.

The CCFA. The CCFA is the major private foundation that supports research and patient support for patients with Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis. The CCFA page seeks to be authoritative. Most advice here is accepted as generally probably true.The site is well maintained and chages from time to time. By the way, join the CCFA. I did.

University of Calgary GI Division . 
Not IBD per se, but a nice site. They have an archive of endoscopic pictures , some of which show findings in Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis. They also have a weekly quiz of great cases.
All of the links are broken, but I’m working on that. Please update me in the comment section below if you have info on this.

Pathology Library of Images 
The University of Utah has put up a remarkable resource. General Path including IBD pathology is available there. THE GI pathology is at https://webpath.med.utah.edu/GIHTML/GIIDX.html

Habla usted Espanol? Tenga la enfermedad de Crohn? Es mi Espanol horrible? Dos preguntas verdad por usted? Un site en Espanol por medicos – Grupo Espanol do Trabajo en Enfermedad de Crohn y Colitis Ulcerosa esta aqui.

The following are the member organizations of Digestive Disease Week.  Hopefully they will get their abstracts on line some time in the future. The member organizations of DDW are: 
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) 
American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) 
American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) 
The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT) 

My Curriculum Vitae