Results from a recent clinical trial have shown that a new food-based dietary treatment for Crohn’s disease helps children and young people to stay symptom-free for longer.

This is positive news for families who, until recently, only had the option of a liquid nutrition treatment to reduce bowel inflammation. Prof Séamus Hussey, consultant gastroenterologist at Children’s Health Ireland, and associate professor of paediatrics at RCSI, worked with international colleagues to design this trial, which included children from Ireland and around the world.

Prof Hussey said: “Crohn’s disease can make life really hard for children, young people and their families. Until now, one of the best treatments we had to offer is called exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN), where children drink only special liquid nutrition for six to eight weeks. This is a very effective treatment, kick starting a reduction in inflammation and a return to health in most children. Many families struggle to follow these strict diets, and symptoms can return.” 

However, with thanks to participating patients, families, staff and funders, Prof Hussey said: “For the first time, we have shown that a longer-term dietary therapy helps to treat certain patients with Crohn’s disease. This takes our treatment options from the medicine cupboard to the kitchen table, which promises huge impact for children and their families.”

Children and their parents prefer solid food-based diets to liquid nutrition options. The Crohn’s disease Exclusion Diet (CDED) is a whole food-based diet. It restricts foods, such as high sugar foods and dairy products, which irritate the gut in Crohn’s disease. However, children can still eat a wider range of fruits, vegetables, meats and fish.

The trial examined whether a combined approach (using both the CDED and EEN) could be tolerated by children and effective at preventing symptoms from returning. The results, published recently in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, found that the combined diet was indeed tolerated by most children and not only saw an improvement of initial symptoms but also prevented symptoms from returning in most patients.

“Moving from medical to dietary treatments for inflammatory bowel diseases offers huge hope to children and families, reducing pain and suffering in children and side effects that can result from the use of medicines in some cases. It is great to see Irish involvement in such vital studies in children and young adults and opens up the possibilities of expanding these types of treatment trials in the future.”