Selected Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Agents in IBD

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can cause significant psychological, physical, and economic burdens on patients and healthcare systems. Studies show over one-fifth of patients will seek nontraditional methods of treatment for managing their symptoms. Understanding the benefits - and potential harms - of these therapies is important to provide holistic and evidence-based care to our IBD patients.

In this review, we present several studied herbal therapies for the management of both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. These include cannabinoids, Tripterygium wilfordii, Chios mastic gum, Boswellia serrata, Indigo Naturalis, curcumin, resveratrol, and Zingiber officinale. While these herbal remedies have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects and positive outcomes in IBD patients, larger scale studies are lacking and the use may be limited by bioavailability, lack of standardization of formulations, and adverse reactions. In reviewing the literature, we discuss the current data available including benefits, adverse reactions, and considerations for use surrounding several of the more common herbal remedies used for IBD.