Adalimumab May Reduce Health-Care Costs For Crohn's Disease Patients
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term that refers to both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). IBD occurs most frequently in people in their late teens and twenties. There have been cases in children as young as two years old and in older adults in their seventies and eighties; men and women have an equal chance of getting the disease.
While the cause(s) of IBD are not known, one theory is based on genetics, indicating that IBD runs in families. About 15 percent to 30 percent of patients with IBD have a relative with the disease. Research is underway to find out if a specific gene or a group of genes makes a person more susceptible to getting the disease. Additionally, many changes in the body's immune system have been discovered in patients with IBD. There is a large amount of research being done in this area as well, including studies to find out if IBD is caused by an infectious agent.
Two recent studies published in Gastroenterology and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology further our understanding of these major illnesses.
Adalimumab Therapy May Provide Important Economic Benefits for Crohn's Disease Patients
Crohn's disease (CD) patients treated with adalimumab have lower one-year risks of hospitalization and surgery, reports a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.
Adalimumab is an anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) monoclonal antibody, of human origin, effective for inducing and maintaining clinical response and remission in patients with moderate to severe CD. It is approved for the treatment of CD in North America and Europe.
All data used in these analyses were collected during the Crohn's Trial of the Fully Human Antibody Adalimumab for Remission Maintenance (CHARM) trial, a multi-center, Phase III, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. This analysis was the first to examine the effect of adalimumab maintenance treatment on both all-cause and CD-related hospitalizations. Of the 778 patients randomized, 260 were assigned to adalimumab every other week, 257 were assigned to adalimumab weekly and 261 received placebo.
Both three- and 12-month hospitalization risks were significantly lower for patients who received adalimumab. In addition, adalimumab every other week and weekly maintenance therapies were associated with 52 percent and 60 percent relative reductions in 12-month, all-cause hospitalization risk, and 48 percent and 64 percent reductions in 12-month risk of CD-related hospitalization.
The combined adalimumab group was associated with 56 percent reductions in both all-cause and CD-related hospitalization risks. Fewer CD-related surgeries occurred in the adalimumab every other week, weekly and combined groups compared with placebo (0.4, 0.8 and 0.6 versus 3.8 per 100 patients, all p
Adalimumab poate reduce de sãnãtate costurile de boala lui Crohn Pacienþii - Adalimumab May Reduce Health-Care Costs For Crohn's Disease Patients - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate