Prompted by my amazing partner, I have been looking into a few alternative treatments for Crohns Disease.  We are not talking tealeaves and meditation, I know I have a problem and that positivity alone is not going to get it under control.  I also know that I can’t continue to stay on the Entocort.  The depression bought on by this drug is continuing to get worse, I have fewer ‘good days’ now and my bad ones are really bad.  Also, long-term use of Budesonide is just as destructive as the Prednisone, just in a different way.  Budesonide leeches calcium out of your bones, many people on the drug develop serious Osteoporosis. I figure having Crohns Disease is enough, I don’t need to add to my list of problems.  I need to get off the Steroids – to clear my head up if nothing more… but last time I was off them for a few days due to the flu, I had another attack.  I am still not convinced that they are helping, but I am also not sure I want to take the risk they are not.

Stocker has only got very limited internet access at work, which lately has been in our favour.  While listening to a Pod Cast on the ABC website he came across a discussion on Crohns Disease.  The discussion was outlining an alternative treatment, which had no support and wasn’t approved.  There is a very good reason for its lack of acceptance in the medical world – and it all comes down to a single factor, money.  Yes, that’s right, medicine is ignoring a viable treatment for a great number of autoimmune disease because they stand to lose billions of dollars.  I sincerely wish that one of the ‘higher ups’ on medical board of Australia could go through an Asthma attack, Crohns attack or Ulcerative Colitis attack.  I don’t think they would be so willing to cast a blind eye if they had any idea of the suffering they are perpetuating.  The treatment I am referring to is Helminthic Therapy.  Basically, its giving patients either Hook Worm or Whip Worm (or a combination of both).  I know the reaction most of you are having now, cause I had it to until I read the science behind the treatment – and I assure you its sound.  Crohns disease was discovered and came to prevalence in the early 20th century.  This coincides with a strong drive to ‘worm’ the population getting rid of the parasites we have been living with for centuries.  Also around this time, hygiene began to improve dramatically meaning the chance of repeat infection from the parasites was low.  Hook Worm in particular, makes a home in your bowel, generally your immune system starts attacking any foreign objects.  Hook Worm, for lack of better terminology, puts your immune system to sleep.  It doesn’t want to get attacked, so it sends signals to your immune system – your body ends up believing that everything is good in your bowel and it just stops attacking.  This makes particular sense with regards to treating Crohns.  Crohns disease is an altered version of an autoimmune response.  A typical autoimmune disease is where the body attacks itself, in Crohns disease, the body isn’t attacking itself, its attacking all the bacteria in your bowel (good and bad) and your body is getting screwed in the cross fire.  Hook Worms reduce or in some cases stop this from happening.  Some studies have been done on this treatment, the results (which have been reported)  have been 70% of Crohns sufferers enjoy complete remission.  Not less attacks, no attacks.  The success rate for Prednisone and Budesonide is significantly less than that – I think in fact its about 30% – and you have to deal with all the unpleasant side effects which are sometimes much worse than the disease itself.  Pharmaceutical companies stand to lose billions of dollars in medication sales and doctors stand to lose millions in drug company endorsements and kickbacks.  It all comes down to the same scenario I have been faced with throughout my whole Crohns saga.  I am thousands out of pocket because everyone wants to make money out of my misery.  Does that sound wrong to anyone else?

I am at the very beginning stages of looking into this treatment seriously.  I have a GP who will oversee the process and supply me with the blood test results I need and I have emailed the company that provides the treatment.  The cost is going to be one major hurdle, we think its going to come back at about $3,000US, but let me put that in perspective.  Hook Worm infection is guaranteed to last at least 3 years (or the reinfect you for free), my current treatment will cost approximately $12,000 over three years assuming they don’t add any more to it and my pleas to subsidize Budesonide continue to fall on deaf ears. The only risk to us is that I might be part of the unlucky 30% it doesn’t work on… still better odds than staying on a drug that doesn’t work on about 70% of sufferers.  It makes sense, it makes perfect sense – and if it can put an end to my attacks, I have to try it.

I do plan on talking to the specialist about this treatment – but I also plan on going ahead with it when we have the money in spite of what he says.  The risks are minimal, the possibility of being in permanent remission is too great to ignore and if it goes wrong then I get wormed and I go back to approved medicine.    One thing they do stress, and I will reiterate, is that this is not a cure.  There is no cure for Crohns Disease and it doesn’t look like there will be one for a while yet – perhaps not in my lifetime.  This is a treatment only.

Maybe we have become too concerned with hygiene.  Maybe we have missed the whole point of evolution.  Perhaps we were meant to live with the parasites we ingeniously eradicated in the industrialized Western World?