Gut reaction
Hundreds of thousands of Canadians suffer from such gastrointestinal problems as inflammatory bowel disease. And Alberta's rates are among the highest in the country.
Story by Connie Bryson/Illustrations by Genevieve Simms and Veer
"You know that children can get this disease? I have two kids—I can't imagine a child going through this. I barely made it myself."
These are the words of Edmonton Oiler Fernando Pisani. His battle with ulcerative colitis (inflammation of the large intestine) began in 2005. Although he managed to continue playing hockey, a serious flare-up in 2007 took him out of the lineup for 26 games. Suffering from almost constant diarrhea, dramatic weight loss, fatigue, and depression, Pisani thought his hockey career was over—along with his life as he knew it. But a new drug that blocks the inflammation process started him on the road to recovery. Today he is on medication, back on the ice with the Oilers, and feeling fine.
Pisani's struggles are all too familiar to many of us. More than 200,000 Canadians are seriously affected by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This is an umbrella term for a group of diseases that involve inflammation of the intestines. The two main diseases in the group are ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.
"Canada has one of the highest incidences of IBD in the world; and, within Canada, Alberta has some of the highest rates," says Dr. Richard Fedorak, a gastroenterologist and IBD researcher at the University of Alberta. "There is a concerted effort to find out what causes IBD and why the rates are so high in this province."
More than 30 genetic defects are associated with IBD, but faulty genes on their own are not enough to trigger illness. It is widely believed that exposure to something in the environment—such as a bacterium or a virus—sets off the runaway inflammation that is the hallmark of this group of diseases.
Dr. Fedorak notes that for the past 20 years there has been an intensive research effort focused on IBD in Calgary and Edmonton. "The exciting message is that we have been working on the basic science of IBD for years. The research has now come to the translational stage—we are taking what we know and applying that to patients."