As the title says, there is a new study that was published and available for everyone to read that gives some reasons for why Remicade (aka Infliximab) is better than the other biologic medications available to treat ulcerative colitis.
The two other biologics which were compared in this study are adalimumab and golimumab (or you may know them by their trade names of “Humira” and “Simponi” respectively).
The study titled: “Infliximab is superior to other biological agents for treatment of active ulcerative colitis: A meta-analysis” (full study – click here) was published on PubMed just a few days ago in late May, 2015 and was carried out by several doctors in China.
I personally found this study particularly interesting because whether you have used biologics to treat your UC or not, and whether you like these medications or you hate them, it’s always a big decision and usually a stressful time for any UC’er when biologics became part of the treatment to get UC symptoms to settle down.
And…if your gastroenterologist doctor is talking about biologics, this study might be something you can print out and bring to him or her for their opinion on which way to go.
Certainly there are other factors that go into the decision making process for many UC’ers if biologics step into the program. There are outside forces from insurance companies in terms of which medications they will or will not approve. Sometimes there are different screening tests which UC’ers go through in terms of blood tests to determine if a particular biologic will suit him/her. And I’m sure I’m missing some other outside factors that go into the decision making process. Heck, the treating doctor might simply have more experiencing with prescribing one of the biologics, and for that reason, it might be habit to prescribe one before/instead of another.
So, do yourself a favor.
Read through the full study and you might learn a thing or two about these three medications that help you out in your decision making process. Maybe you’ll have some more questions afterwards(totally normal…come on…we’re talking about things named “Adalimumab…for you know who’s sake!).
Finally, like most studies, there is a section in this particular study which talks about areas for improvement within the study data itself(congrats to the authors for including this and realizing that we’re all human, and even super smart doctors and scientists aren’t perfect yet:) here’s their announcement which should also be considered:
However, it should be noted that there were some limitations in our study. First, a potential weakness of this meta-analysis was caused by the fact that the included trials were likely different in study design. For example, the studies by Sandborn et al[12,13] and Feagan et al[14] reported efficacy and safety results at week 6 while the others at week 8[9]. Patient characteristics such as previous treatments also varied slightly across studies. Second, the small sample size and lack of head-to-head trials may increase the uncertainty of the results. Finally, we could not assess the publication bias. Despite these limitations, we believe that our analysis could contribute to the evaluation of biological agents that might support clinical decision making.
So there you have it, a comparison study to read regarding some of the most talked about ulcerative colitis biologic meds on the market today.
And, like always, feel free to check out the individual reviews from past UC’ers who have actually taken or are currently taking these exact medications, those pages are here:
Thanks for reading and have a great rest of the week!
Best in health to you once again,
Adam Scheuer
I started site shortly after being diagnosed in October of 2008 with severe pancolitis (when my whole colon was inflamed).
For me, it was a very rough start with severe symptoms. Getting bounced from medication to medication was not easy or too helpful. But, I did meet another UC’er, changes several parts of my diet, and of course the rest is history.
Leave a comment, ask a question, take advantage of our past experiences here, use the search boxes, they are your friends to0:)
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