Are Steroids Overused To Treat Inflammatory Bowel Disease?

Steroid therapy is often over used to treat inflammatory bowel diseases ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease but it does not provide long-term benefits and it carries a risk of serious side effects.

In a large study published in Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, researchers at 19 centres in the UK report that, among 2,385 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, 14.8% showed evidence of steroid excess or dependency, and the steroid excess was judged avoidable in over 50% of cases.

‘It's not advisable to continue steroid treatment for more than 3 months for Crohn's.’

The seven centres that had participated in a quality improvement programme had significantly fewer patients (11.5% versus 17.1%) receiving excess steroids.

"Looking at steroid prescribing for inflammatory bowel disease and trying to reduce steroid excess can be a powerful way to improve patient care and outcomes," said lead author Christian P. Selinger, MD, MRCP, of St. James University Hospital.

Source: Eurekalert