Research for the dogs.

Scientists and researchers have long suspected bacteria as playing a key role in Crohn’s disease. Now our canine companions are helping us figure just what that role might be as the bacteria that may cause chronic intestinal inflammation in humans was recently found in the intestinal linings of some boxers.

“Working on both the canine and the human side speeds research to learn more about devastating disease,” says Joan Coates, associates professor at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine.

More here = Man’s best friend fights disease, too

From her weakness comes her greatest strength.

“Everything happens for a reason” is quite possibly one of my least favorite things to hear. Nobody ever says “everything happens for a reason” when something good happens. Nope, they only sling it at you when something unfortunate and crappy betides.

Me? I am a much firmer believer in the Branch Rickey philosophy that “luck is the residue of design.” In my experience, most bad things happen as a result of something I either totally screwed up or neglected—sometimes both.

My health on the other hand, is a complete wash—and neither reason nor design can explain why I of all people am the sick kid. Looking at her life story, I wonder if Sonia Sotomayor has often felt this same way.

Judge Sotomayor is a type 1 diabetes sufferer (diagnosed at age 8) and I’m both elated and curious to see what kind of effect this could have on the outcome of health and medical cases that come before the U.S. Supreme Court. She may just be the first instance—in my experience—in which everything happens for a positive reason.

Check out John Nichols piece on just this topic here (thanks Geoff!) = Judge Sotomayor’s Diabetes: Not a Weakness But a Strength

The commodity of wealth...errr, health.

I’m a “connector.” Always have been and—with the exception of days when I’m not feeling so hot—always will be. So when I love a doctor—I tell a lot of people; and when I have a bad experience with one—I tell everyone.

I never even considered the physician-to-physician connectors, until I read this: Referral System Turns Patients Into Commodities

Yikes. Kind of scary.

The things we hide. (part 1)

I ducked into a local coffee shop today to use the restroom and had a lengthy inner dialogue about my expertise and ability to write a Zagat guide to the cleanest/best bathrooms that my fine city has to offer. Just as I was rounding the corner to the restroom, I ran into a father administering a blood glucose monitor into his (very calm) son’s finger. The boy could not have been older than 5 and took the prick (ouch!) like a man of 35. Once his father had read the rating, they walked back into the cafe and resumed life as usual. My inner dialogue began a new discussion.

As we leave behind the third annual World Crohn’s and Colitis Day I can’t help but notice that there is still a bit of ground to gain in the fight against many “silent” illnesses. Maybe they wanted a quieter place to test, but why should a diabetes sufferer (and his father) feel the need to leave the room to test himself?

I know why—it’s the same stigma that makes me feel the need to administer my Humira behind a closed door and hide the other meds I need to take deep in my purse or backpack. It’s the same rationale that makes me feel like a fugitive when I’m on a high-dose of prednisone and don’t want to be judged for the weight it throws on my frame and face (aka fugu/pufferfish).

Does anyone else feel this way too? You must...right?

Mes de Mayo.

Not only is this a great story about Alexander Marcoccia, an extremely cool kid from Sacramento, but Tamara Block—one of my personal bay area Crohn’s advocate favorites—talks about digestive illnesses and the importance of the measure recently passed in California making May Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Month. (Yea, sorry, I’m a little late on this piece of news.)

Watch the story and interview here: youtube.com

iBD? There's an app for that.

If you’re an iPhone lover like me, then you’ll be stoked about this—WellApps has produced the GI Monitor app for Crohn’s and colitis sufferers.

Inspired by Crohn’s sufferer Brett Shamosh, a Digital Media Executive as well, the GI Monitor logs pain, stress, etc. to give doctors a more accurate snapshot of their patient’s health. At $4.99 it’s a sweet substitute for lugging a journal around. Look for it on your BlackBerry soon too.

More here: wellapps.com/gimonitor

Through chaos, a career.

If you’ve spent as much time in the hospital as I have, you surely know that behind every good doctor are several incredible nurses. In light of that, what a truly inspirational story this is: From her own struggles, graduate finds a career

After struggling with Crohn’s disease for years, Julie Katrichis returned to school to complete her nursing degree and credits the “good nurses” in each of her bouts for getting her through things.

More here: New nurse knows health system firsthand

Go Team Chronic Style!

Cheers again to everyone doing a Take Steps walk. If you like the shirts, let me know and we’ll figure out how to get you one and donate the money to CCFA.

Or you can donate directly to my team: cctakesteps.org/orlando/katieclark
(no pressure, I know times are tough)

A cure for...me?

I’ve just arrived in central Florida to do a walk—“really more of a saunter”*—with my family to raise money and awareness for Crohn’s disease and colitis: cctakesteps.org/orlando

I was thinking about something on the journey from California to Florida—and I’m not quite sure how to verbalize this—but there is something really odd about coming to an event (as a seemingly healthy person) to find a cure for yourself. I ran 5-miles tonight, surely no one will believe I need an entire campaign dedicated to my cause.

But with these same thoughts I am cognizant of the reality that this kind of event and awareness allows me—and hundreds of thousands of people like me—to find the care (medically, emotionally, etc.) that gives me the ability to run at all and live a fairly normal life simultaneously.

With that, my hats off to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation for putting this together. Go find a walk near you already: cctakesteps.org

*My sister’s words—who raised the most money of all of us!

Change your altitude.

This is cool. Those Canadians are full of good I.D.E.A.S. (Intestinal Disease Education and Awareness Society) and here’s another one: ibdadventures.com

You have to respect a guy who climbs the world’s seven highest summits with Crohn’s disease. (I won’t even attempt Mount Whitney!)

More here: “Changing Attitudes with Altitudes”

Incentives are good for your health.

The White House has made it quite clear that prevention and wellness are key aspects of their health care platform, and now Congress wants the American workplace to see the light by giving employers the ability to reward their employees for healthy habits (such as diet, exercise, weight loss, and smoking cessation).

Check out Steven Pearson and Sarah Lieber’s piece in the Health Affairs journal this month: Financial Penalties For The Unhealthy? Ethical Guidelines For Holding Employees Responsible For Their Health

Hmmm, I wonder if I can get be rewarded for surfing more during the week...? More here: nytimes.com/money&policy

A middle-weight who puts up a quiet fight.

I found this Q&A with Andrew McFedries to be quite intriguing, and not just because this guy is a total rockstar. McFedries—a mixed martial artist who currently fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship—does it all while coolly managing his daily struggles with Crohn’s disease.

“Crohn's disease is very serious; I don't think people understand how serious it is. It's just something I live with.”

More here: usatoday.com

A perfect 10.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I was 10-years-old, I was trying to figure out how to get my hair to look like Whitney Houston’s in addition to avoiding my weekend chores. I was certainly not focusing on my eating habits and the beauty of local cuisine—beyond Cuban sandwiches that is.

Enter Abby Fitzpatrick. This kid might be the most industrious 10-year-old I’ve ever seen. She’s a full-on food critic from the Sacramento, California area and to boot, she’s adorable: abbysdiningadventures.com

Straight from her blog, here are her words for why she wanted to become a food critic: I had to be in the hospital a lot for Crohn’s and four or five times, I wasn’t allowed to eat normal food for a long time. They sometimes let me have just clear liquids. So, I thought about food a lot and I watched a lot of movies in the hospital including Ratatouille. That gave me the idea to try new foods and combinations of foods. I plan to go to a lot of restaurants and review them.

Check out her blog here: abbysdiningadventures.com/blog. Keep up the great work Abby.

March in May.

Don’t know how you can help your friends, loved ones, or perhaps even yourself in the fight for better research for IBD? Get on Facebook—no seriously.

The first-ever virtual march to support IBD research—launched by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation in partnership with Shire pharmaceuticals—is on. Just log onto your Facebook page, join the march here, and Shire will donate $1 per footstep to CCFA for research, education, and support initiatives for each of the first 30,000 steps taken.

More here: facebook.com

The real swine epidemic...

...is related to bacon—not flu-like symptoms. I’m surely biased, but this video about obesity really had an effect on me: vimeo.com

No pressure to check it out, but here’s the gist: This eleven-minute documentary explores obesity through the eyes of three teenagers struggling to reconcile the person they are with the person they aspire to be. Their stories show the obstacles to behavior change — and the opportunity for goods and services to help people reach their goals.

More here: A Lens On Obesity

Cash Back? Uhhh, no thanks.

Okay, I promise I’ll leave the swine flu alone shortly, but this is really interesting...

Apparently any influenza virus can last for more than ten days on paper money—insert the obvious “it’s a good thing nobody has any to spend” here. And there are great pieces this week on both smartmoney.com and Tara Parker-Pope’s health blog about the consistently nasty things that can travel around on our greenbacks.

Did you know the ink in our new American bills contains a fungicide and that “plastic credit cards are a better option during a pandemic”...? Me neither.

More here: Can You Catch Swine Flu From Money