This is my review of Zeposia (Ozanimod), a new once a day oral medication for moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. I go over the True North Study (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2033617) in detail including efficacy and safety data. I have no conflicts of interest with any pharmaceutical companies. These are my opinions regarding Zeposia and other medications based on my personal/clinical experience and review of the literature.  ..read more

Dr. Shriram Jakate is Professor Emeritus in pathology at Rush University Medical Center. He has a particular expertise in GI and liver pathology and has been interpreting slides from patients with Crohn's and colitis for over several decades. I consider him to be the best GI pathologist I have encountered in my career and during this podcast we have a wide ranging discussion about interpretation of IBD pathology. We discuss the pathologic features of Crohn's and ulcerative in detail and also go over IBD mimickers (including NSAID induced inflammation), C diff, pouchitis and rethinking the cla ..read more

This is a discussion with Dr. Assad Munis, third year gastroenterology fellow at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, about his recent presentation "Initial Approach to Fistulizing Crohn's Disease" at our grand rounds.   We discuss pathophysiology, diagnosis, and primarily medical management. We also touch on topics of stem cell therapy, hyperbaric oxygen and exclusive enteral nutrition as potential treatments.  ..read more

I made this podcast for those who are newly diagnosed with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Dr. K’s Simplified Prescription to Treat IBD (it’s not that complicated to know what to do) 1.Start with appropriate and optimized medical therapy, preferably by an IBD specialist (like myself). 2.If this works, follow an IBD diet protocol that speaks to you and that you can realistically follow long term. Bottom line is to take out processed food and being plant based is probably helpful. 3.After at least 1 year, if in deep remission (feeling normal, normal colonoscopy, normal biopsies), contin ..read more

This podcast is a deep dive into the recently published article "A Randomized Trial Comparing the Specific Carbohydrate Diet to a Mediterranean Diet in Adults With Crohn’s Disease."  (also known as the Dine Study) published by Lewis, et al.  Article link is here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34052278/ My guests are Dr. Meghana Doniparthi, gastroenterology fellow at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and  Kim Beall, Pharm D. Kim received her Doctor of Pharmacy from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and her BS in Pharmacy from Auburn University. She has experien ..read more

This is my second podcast with IBDCoach. We try to make sense of all the IBD diets, supplements and medications out there which can be so confusing! We also have a detailed discussion regarding Andrew's use of Ksharsutra (Ayurvedic Seton) to treat his fistula.  I am not officially endorsing or recommending this service or Ksharsutra. You must discuss using any adjunctive therapies with your gastroenterologist. Andrew Kornfeld (andrew@ibd.coach) holds degrees in Neuroscience and Psychology from UC Santa Cruz and is an award-winning educator, organizer, and published author. He has Crohn ..read more

There are many reasons why a whole food plant based diet may be helpful for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Data suggest limiting omega-6 PUFAs (ie oils), saturated fats, animal protein, and food additives may be associated with a reduced risk of developing IBD. A whole food plant based diet seems to check all of those boxes. However, this doesn’t change the fact that there are some out there who respond to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (which is a monosaccharide diet) that does not restrict meat, cheese or cooking oils. Enthusiasm for a whole food plant based diet is gaining steam n ..read more

For all the mega Against the Grain fans out there, here is the full theme song, version #1 in all its glory. The part you are familiar with is in the middle of the track. Produced and Written by Samir Kakodkar. Borrowed some parts from theme from the ABC reality TV show The Mole (that nobody watched). Circa 2003 at Northwestern University, Foster Walker Complex, on a microKorg and Garage Band ..read more

For all the mega Against the Grain fans out there, here is the full theme song, version #2 in all its glory. Produced and Written by Samir Kakodkar Circa 2003 at Northwestern University, Foster Walker Complex, on a microKorg and Garage Band ..read more

There are many theories out there regarding what causes Crohn’s disease. Though ultimately most physicians and scientists acknowledge that we don’t know the cause, there is a small subgroup that believe Crohn’s disease is caused by a specific bacteria called mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis which we will abbreviate as MAP. MAP mainly comes from infected cattle but is now ubiquitous in our environment and all of us are likely exposed to it on a regular basis. The treatment paradigm for Crohn’s has mainly been the use of immunosuppressive medications which target a dysregulated immune syste ..read more