Colitis

A half a million Americans have the disease. Many of them are young, and a lot of them are women. There are treatments, but many patients have to take a lot of pills. So for them, a once a day drug that will cut down on that number is a big deal. At the age of 27, Vendy Bandy was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.

The problem came on suddenly and was overwhelming. “I had a lot of blood in the bowel and I had loss of appetite, I lost about 40 lbs in a month,” says Venky. Ulcerative colitis is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that produces inflammation and sores or ulcers along the inside of the large intestine, or colon. Venky was put on this medicine--a form of mesalamine, an anti-inflammatory that can have a marked benefit for these patients.

But the problem here: is the number of pills one has to take. Eight to twelve or more tablets a day! “If you have like uh 800mg tablet the active portion of that tablet is only 200mg. You need about 1.6grams of mesalamine in the colon. That’s the reason why you would need 8 tablets,” says Dr. Zamir Brelvi, of the New Jersey School of Medicine.

 According to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, 65 percent of patients with ulcerative colitis are poorly compliant with their medication. The reason: too many pills. Venky had a choice: six pills twice or four pills three times daily. “I said ok I will go for 4 pills 3 times a day. Its just you have to make it a habit of it,” says Venky.

 But Venky’s going to kick that habit…because now, he can take a once daily form of mesalamine called Lialda. “This new pill if I can take once a day it would be great for me,” Vicky states. What Lialda has that the old type of mesalamine doesn’t is something called MMX® technology. It combines a ph dependant gastro-resistant coating, which delays the release of the medication to the colon where the problem of inflammation is occurring.

As a result patients can take as few as two tablets once daily. Dr. Zamir Brelvi says, “Liodil is a very good advance as far as ulcer colitis is concerned. We have been waiting for this, for this medication to be approved. And, and we are quite excited about it because that will certainly improve our compliance as far as patients, with ulcer colitis is concerned.”

It’s indicated for the induction of remission in patients with active, mild to moderate ulcerative colitis. The doctor says the only drawback may be the size of the pill. In order for the pill to include a higher dose of the mesalamine, the pill is a little bigger than your normal pill; so if patients are not willing to swallow a bigger pill, that’s one of the drawbacks. It may also not be approved by managed care companies.