About IBD

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects people from all ethnic and cultural groups. In this limited series, we'll explore how inequalities in the healthcare system affect people from diverse backgrounds.

IBD is still considered rare in some parts of the world, but incidence is increasing. Fasika Shimeles Teferra, MD of Ethiopia describes her journey to a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. Being a medical doctor, she has been able to make connections in order to help other IBD patients in her country. Patients face stigma, less than optimal care, and a lack of educational resources for themselves and their friends and family members.

Dr Teferra was helping patients as best she could but discovered she needed a bigger platform. She founded a nonprofit, Crohn’s and Colitis Ethiopia, in order to better support Ethiopian patients with IBD.

Find Dr Teferra on LinkedIn and Twitter and Crohn’s and Colitis Ethiopia on Facebook and their web site.

More about Dr Teferra and IBD in Ethiopia:

• Interview with Dr Teferra on Lights, Camera, Crohn's
• Inflammatory bowel disease: an emergent disease among Ethiopian Jews migrating to Israel
• Inflammatory bowel disease in Africa: what is the current state of knowledge?

Find Amber J Tresca at AboutIBD.com, Verywell, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Credits:

Healthcare Disparities in IBD is written, produced, and directed by Amber Tresca.

Theme music, mix, and sound design is by Cooney Studio.

What do all the new oral drugs available for treating IBD have to do with military service? Being diagnosed with IBD might mean leaving the military for some service members. Part of the reason is that it’s not possible to be deployed while receiving a drug that’s an injection or an infusion. But when a medication works well and happens to be in pill form: that’s a game-changer. Dr Anish Patel, the Medical Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Brooke Army Medical Center gives an update on how IBD is treated in the military, what he sees on the horizon for IBD, and his best advice for every patient living with a chronic illness. Episode transcript and more information at: https://bit.ly/AIBD141 Find Anish Patel, DO, LTC, FACG, FAGA at:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anish.patel.31392/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089635157883
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anishpa81/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FocusGI2022
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishpa-armyibd/
• Web: https://www.focusgi.org/

Resources:

• Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, Veterans with IBD: https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/veterans
• Facebook Support Group for Veterans with IBD: https://www.facebook.com/groups/525843515658644
• VA Podcast Network: https://news.va.gov/va-podcast-network/
• My HealtheVet: https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/home
• Veterans Crisis Line: https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

Research:

• Fragmented care and IBD: Outcomes in U.S. veterans: https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/fragmented-care-and-ibd-outcomes-us-veterans
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome in U.S. Veterans: https://www.verywellhealth.com/ibs-in-veterans-1944720
• Kent KG. Prevalence of gastrointestinal disease in US Military Veterans under outpatient care at the Veterans Health Administration. SAGE Open Med. 2021;9:20503121211049112. doi:10.1177/20503121211049112 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34646564/
• Bookwalter DB, Roenfeldt KA, LeardMann CA, Kong SY, Riddle MS, Rull RP. Posttraumatic stress disorder and risk of selected autoimmune diseases among US military personnel. BMC Psychiatry. 2020;20(1):23. doi:10.1186/s12888-020-2432-9 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31941473/

Find Amber J Tresca at:

• Verywell: https://www.verywell.com/ibd-crohns-colitis-4014703
• Blog: http://aboutibd.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aboutIBD/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/aboutIBD
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/aboutibd/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/about_IBD/

Credits:

Sound engineering courtesy Mac Cooney:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maccooneycomposer
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maccooneycomposer/
• "IBD Dance Party" Single: https://maccooney.bandcamp.com/track/ibd-dance-party-single
• ©Cooney Studio: http://cooneystudio.com/

Are you ready to tell your story? Your legislators in Washington D.C., in your state, and your home town want to hear from you about how IBD has affected your life and the legislation you care about. Brooke Abbott of The Crazy Creole Mommy Chronicles and Amber tell you how to get started in health activism and how to make your voice heard in our government!

6:00: What’s an IBD Elevator Speech? Hear Brooke’s and then use the create your own.

7:15: Find out what happens when you meet with the staff in your representatives’ office.

12:27: What should you know—and do—before you meet with someone at your representative’s office?

12:53: What you do say when you call your representative’s office to set up a meeting?

15:34: Do this if your representative will not meet with you.

22:07: What to write on a postcard you send to your representative.

28:50: Do our representatives pay attention to Twitter hashtags?

29:48: How https://www.govtrack.us/ and https://www.congress.gov/ can help you advocate!

35:30: Brooke always does this one thing before she goes into a meeting.

39:70: Learn which senator is also a gastroenterologist.

44:04: We talk about one of my Senators who I coincidentally met with about a week after we recorded this episode! (See my Facebook or Twitter feed for the photos!)

52:35: New segment on the show: Amber’s Unsolicited Parenting Advice!

59:23: Listen to About IBD Episode 5 to learn why Brooke is Amber’s "Alec Baldwin." Want to do more?

*Brooke and Amber attended the Digestive Disease National Coalition Public Policy Forum in 2017. You can find out more about their events and legislative events on their site: http://www.ddnc.org/

*Sign up for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Advocacy Network to get informed about advocacy goals: http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/get-involved/be-an-advocate/

*See if your legislator is on the Crohn’s and Colitis Caucus. If not, write them and ask them to join! http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/assets/pdfs/advocacy/2017-caucus-handout-1.pdf

*Don’t know where to start? Get in touch with us—we’re friendly! Featured Guest:

Brooke Abbott, The Crazy Creole Mommy Chronicles

• Blog: https://crazycreolemommy.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrazyCreoleMama
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrzyCreoleMommy/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crazycreolemama/

Find Amber J Tresca at:

• Verywell: https://www.verywell.com/ibd-crohns-colitis-4014703
• Blog: http://aboutibd.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ibdcrohns/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/aboutIBD
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/aboutibd/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/about_IBD/

Intro Music: Retro Soul - Bensound.com - www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Outro Music: Jazzy Frenchy - Bensound.com - www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Did you know that more than 70% of people with IBD have reported bathroom accidents (fecal incontinence)? Did you also know that only around 20% ask for help from their physicians? It’s a sensitive topic, to be sure, which is why I offer advice on how to cope with this problem and how to avoid it in the first place. If you’re struggling with this issue I have tips that you can use today but the best advice is to talk to your doctor about it (and I discuss that also!).

2:53: IBD is not a pooping disease!

3:34: 8AM classes — everyone else hates them ‘cause they’re hung over. You hate them because IBD.

4:28: Contact the student services office at your university about getting accommodations.

5:19: IBD is covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act, which means that you can ask for reasonable accommodations.

6:23: Yeah, I’m gonna come down on coffee and how it affects your digestive tract.

8:18: Not eating/drinking in the morning: how that can be good or bad depending on circumstances.

10:13: Why a lack of appetite can work against you during an IBD flare-up.

12:00: What should come with you when you leave the house?

16:32: Making your IBD emergency kit.

22:40: Vegan Ostomy coping with a leaking appliance in his car at Canada’s Wonderland (I thought he did a full change but actually he was able to change the bag) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55jpoNZCryw

23:19: The mental aspect of dealing with bathroom accidents is probably the most difficult one to overcome.

Resources:

• #AboutIBDPodcast on stress relief with Dr Tiffany Taft: https://soundcloud.com/amber-j-tresca/episode-11-final-mixed
• What To Do In Case Of Bathroom Accidents: https://www.verywell.com/what-to-do-in-case-of-bathroom-accidents-1942902
• Fecal Incontinence And IBD: https://www.verywell.com/fecal-incontinence-and-ibd-1943008 
• The Restroom Access Act: https://www.verywell.com/the-restroom-access-act-1942432
• IBD Worst-Case Scenario Handbook: https://www.verywell.com/ibd-worst-case-scenario-handbook-1942892
• Is Caffeine Bad For Your IBD? https://www.verywell.com/is-caffeine-bad-for-your-ibd-1942678

Find Amber J Tresca at:

• Verywell: https://www.verywell.com/ibd-crohns-colitis-4014703
• Blog: http://aboutibd.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aboutibd/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/aboutIBD
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/aboutibd/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/about_IBD/

Intro Music: Acoustic Breeze - Bensound.com - www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Outro Music: Sweet - Bensound.com - www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music