#auguts hard to talk about
Dr Michael Thor lives with Crohn’s disease, and shares his experiences of diagnosis during his teenage years. Miss Laura Hancock is a colorectal surgeon who conducts research within the field of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Her Bowel Research UK grant focuses on an under-recognised type of Crohn’s disease that involves the genital region.
Thor was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at just 14 years old after developing stomach flu and experiencing persisting symptoms. He explains the impact Crohn’s has had on his life and the difficulty around talking about this topic.
Watch Thor and Laura discuss living with Crohn’s disease, Laura’s research into genital Crohn’s, and the importance of starting conversations and funding research.
Miss Laura Hancock is a Consultant General and Colorectal Surgeon whose research interests centre around IBD. She is the lead on a project funded by Bowel Research UK about patients with Crohn’s disease who have genital involvement. This has a devastating impact on physical and mental health, resulting in inability to work, exercise or have an active sex life. The research team have looked at what has been published previously on genital Crohn’s and this has shown that young women are disproportionately affected and can experience debilitating symptoms for years before they are diagnosed. Currently, little is known about how best to diagnose or treat this
condition.
To learn more about Miss Hancock’s work, follow this link here
On the importance of having hard to have conversations, Thor says: “I think I’m a bit of a unique case because my, my dad had ulcerative colitis and my mom was a nurse with a very morbid sense of humour. So speaking about this kind of thing wasn’t really an issue, but I think there needs to be a concerted effort to just get people to open up. It’s not. It’s not a big deal.”
Laura discusses how these conversations can benefit research: “Sometimes an uncomfortable subject really helps not just for the patient, but for the clinician as well. Patients and clinicians can then both understand the research and how it affects patients so that we can get patients to an earlier, more rapid diagnosis and hopefully treatments in the end”.
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Donate nowGut health is unique to you, so hear from experts, people with lived experience and the community to find out ways they manage their gut health. Scientists believe that, from birth, the gut microbiome is linked to virtually every aspect of our health. There is still much more to discover but take your first step here.
I am 71 years old. Diagnosed with Stage 3 rectal adenoma in March 2022. I had chemoradiotherapy and Contact Radiotherapy (Papillon treatment) as due to a rare neurological disorder, which compromises my daily living activities, I did not feel I would cope well with the proposed surgery and permanent stoma.
I had been ignoring an intermittent pain/ache in my left-hand side for over a year. The pain became more permanent and I started to notice my bowel habits change. I was a one time a day in the morning regular as clockwork for all my life. It then went up to 3 times and urgent and painful.
My bowel stopped working due to diverticulitis which caused a stricture. My caecum ballooned and this was removed together with 2/3 rds of the colon & a colostomy bag attached for 6 months. This was reversed after 6 months at St Thomas’s Hospital 6 years ago.
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Welcome to our #auguts campaign. This year we are focussing on the MicrobioME because gut health is unique to you. Discover our recipes, share your tips and get comfortable with the uncomfortable.
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