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[Basic diet in Crohn's disease]
Insights
Children with Crohn's disease showed improved weight gain and reduced inflammation with an elementary diet. This dietary approach, combined with sulfasalazine, offered significant benefits over steroid treatment for pediatric Crohn's disease patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research
- Nutritional Therapy in Children
Background:
- Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease affecting children.
- Current treatments for active Crohn's disease in children include steroids and sulfasalazine.
- The role of exclusive or combined elementary diet in pediatric Crohn's disease management requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of an elementary diet, with or without steroids and sulfasalazine, in treating acute pediatric Crohn's disease.
- To compare the effects of different treatment regimens on clinical and biochemical parameters in children with Crohn's disease.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 26 children with acute Crohn's disease symptoms.
- Three treatment groups: Group A (steroids + sulfasalazine), Group B (elementary diet + sulfasalazine), Group C (elementary diet + steroids + sulfasalazine).
- Assessment of clinical outcomes (defecation frequency, body weight) and biochemical markers (sedimentation rate, plasma leukocytes, plasma total proteins).
Main Results:
- All groups showed decreased sedimentation rate and defecation frequency.
- Group B (elementary diet + sulfasalazine) exhibited normalization of plasma leukocytes and significant body weight gain.
- Group B and C showed significant weight gain, while Group A did not; Group A also had a decline in plasma total proteins.
Conclusions:
- An elementary diet is beneficial for children with active Crohn's disease, promoting significant weight gain.
- The elementary diet, particularly when combined with sulfasalazine, appears more effective than steroid treatment for nutritional recovery and potentially inflammation control.
- Further research into the long-term effects and mechanisms of elementary diet in pediatric Crohn's disease is warranted.
Abstract:
26 children with acute symptoms of Crohn's disease were treated with steroids and sulfasalazine (group A, 9 patients), with an elementary diet and sulfasalazine (group B, 10 patients), or with an elementary diet together with steroids and sulfasalazine (group C, 7 patients). Mean ages in each group were very similar, and treatment periods lasted 41.3 +/- 23.5, 37.4 +/- 12.7, and 36.9 +/- 9.1 days in group A, B and C, respectively. During treatment the sedimentation rate and the frequency of defecation decreased significantly in each group. Leucocytes in plasma fell to normal levels in group B but increased slightly in group A and C. Total proteins in plasma rose in group B and C but declined in group A. The body weight increased in each group but differences before and after treatment were significant only in group B and C. The findings suggest that children with active Crohn's disease may benefit from treatment with an elementary diet. Patients with an elementary diet showed significantly more weight gain than patients on steroid treatment. Besides nutritional effects a lower activity of inflammation was also noted.