Back in mid-March, as COVID-19 swept the globe, I remember sitting at my favorite cafe in Munich, drinking a cup of coffee and thinking, “tomorrow is lock down and I can’t get coffee.” I never thought I would be stuck in my apartment in a foreign country with only a few months supply of...

Making hard decisions and advocating for what is best for me is all part of being an IBD patient. Growing up, I was knocked down by this disease countless times and had to advocate for second opinions or treatment plans that would improve my quality of life and help me achieve remission...

Food became my personal enemy during my freshman year of high school. When a brutal Crohn’s flare hit, I fell into a downward spiral of pain, confusion, and weight loss. My body began to reject all of the foods I once knew and loved, and my diet had whittled down to four foods that I de...

Have you ever wondered what makes someone an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) expert? Some have described it as, “You know one when you see one.” However, there hasn’t been a set definition of what it truly means. The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and the American College of Gastroen...

Approximately 1 in 500 Americans live with an ostomy, a surgically created opening in the body for the discharge of body waste. Whether it’s because of cancer, an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, or incontinence, an ostomy can ...

University of Texas at Dallas researchers have designed a wearable device that monitors sweat for biomarkers that could signal flare-ups of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A team of bioengineers demonstrated the wristwatch-like device in a proof-of-concept study funded by the Crohn’s...

My world was flipped upside down three years ago after I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. I didn’t even know these digestive diseases existed before I was quickly thrown into all the changes and challenges that come with having one. I was a new high school graduate eager to start ...

Up to one-third of ulcerative colitis patients may require surgery because of their disease. The most commonly performed surgery is a proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis, commonly known as a j-pouch. Over the course of one, two, or three surgeries, the colon and rectum are...

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation recently learned about a data security incident at one of our vendors, Blackbaud, which works with many nonprofits to support their fundraising and engagement efforts. Many Blackbaud clients, including this Foundation, were impacted by this incident,...

Have you ever noticed that when you get a good night’s sleep, you feel better physically and emotionally? That is because there is a connection between your sleep and intestinal inflammation. Unfortunately, not every IBD patient gets good sleep. Research estimates that over 75% of IBD p...