Inflammatory-Bowel-Disease Books

Despite the title (which I think is unduly sensationalist), The Angry Gut is a well-written, clear reference for colitis and Crohn's sufferers. Grant is a straightforward, clinical writer and some readers might be put off by his use of widespread, medical terminology. Like any IBD books, the drug sections become quickly dated, but Grant supplies good information on existing drugs and surgeries. He falls into the common pitfall of many M.D.-authored books of completely ignoring the emotional aspects of inflammatory bowel disease and does not seek to refer readers to resources that might provide support. This is a solid, useful reference for IBD patients.

If you or a loved one has the disease-this is a must read. It "decodes" a lot of what the gastroenterology and colo-rectal surgery community gives to patients. This is a nice technical(but not too technical) discussion of IBD in all variations and your choices in terms of drug therapy or surgery. It also is very honest about research and likelihood of medical innovations or breakthroughs. It allows IBD patients to ask great questions and challenge medical practitioners. It's a great handbook for all IBD victims.

Overview of the symptoms, diagnosis, complications, and treatment of IBD. Dr. Thompson discusses how Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis affect the gut and also explores patients' social and sexual concerns, plus treatments and recent research. Worth a look. If you liked this book, you might want to look at another book by Dr. Thompson entitled Gut Reactions

This is a technical overview of IBD covering anatomy, how the gut works, history and epidemiology, possible causes, treatments and complications and medications (not entirely up to date as the book was published in 1989). The book claims in it's foreword to be written for the layman, but be forewarned the anatomy chapter is quite detailed with lots of medical terminology. Let's put it this way, after reading this chapter you will be able to understand the research reports in the national newsletter! (Do you know the difference between your sub-mucosa and your myenteric plexus?) The remainder of the book is more 'reader-friendly' with lots of good information for the newly diagnosed.

This book is technical, but a good resource for individuals who know nothing about Chron's Disease. The author explains in exacting detail how Chron's disease affects people. Most Doctors do not get technical with their patients, and I feel that this book helped me to understand how and why this disease affects me. I now feel very comfortable talking with my Doctor regarding treatment

The introduction to this book is very well written and informative. It is also filled with resources for families to use, a glossary and of course a how to guide of making toilet paper flowers. This doctor knows his stuff. The story itself is incredibly cheesy.
-"Julia took a deep breath and said, 'It's because I have a disease called Crohn's disease.' Nikki grabbed Julia's hands and they both sat down on her bed"-
I was actually laughing out loud at some parts because the writing does not reflect how kids speak to each other. There is no doubt though, this book has outlined the disease clearly, has diagrams and kids could possibly relate to Julia and her embarrassing, and challenging experiences. I'm on the fence, this book has a lot, but kids may question if you know them and their personality/age group at all.

As a sufferer from Crohn's Disease, I was particularly interested in reading how a doctor would explain it to a child. I was disappointed. No child I know would talk to another using these words. The dialog was stilted, didactic and inappropriate for the age level. It is understandable that a doctor would have trouble talking on a simple level about a disease that is not simple.
The idea of making flowers from toilet paper, supposedly due to the numerous and lengthy trips to the bathroom that are often necessary, is a cute hook. However, in reality, many of those trips are too painful to be creative at the same time.
In summary, I don't think a child would understand the condition too much better after reading the book. They need easier words.

As a father with Crohn's disease, this book allowed me to give my daughters (ages 3&7), a more clear understanding of what their daddy goes through on a daily basis. It was so inspiational that, for my birthday, they made me my own bouquet of toilet paper roses. A must have for any parent that has crohn's

I found this book to be well written and illustrated, easy to understand and compassionate.

This book helped my family so much. It is a way to explain Crohn's to children in a way they will understand. I even got one for the school to help educate teachers and other children.
Hopefully this will help bring awareness to the cause.

This compilation of various articles written by IBD experts from across the country is an official Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America publication and that endorsement alone should indicate its quality and content. Every chapter in this book is well written and scrupulously up-to-date with excellent references and resources. Chapter subjects are very holistic in that both the medical and emotional aspects of IBD are represented. There is even a chapter on the use of alternative medicine in the treatment of IBD! Definitely purchase this book for your library.

I went through the CD-ROM. Although at some places old technology (todays video encodings run faster) it is great! For the first time I understand my disease, what the mechanisms are and why to treat it. There is also a more general section about other intestinal disorders for those who do not have IBD but are interested in intestinal disease. By far the best product in a long time!

---Firstly, if you have any medical education, this book seems unbelievably basic. I had hoped to see some actual research here, some clinical trials of the results that people have had with various diets, but I was left with nothing of the sort.
---The book begins with a simple review of the nutrition that everyone learned way back in high school. It then progresses on to give some very general statements about the various diets that are sometimes recommended for various cases, but it doesn't provide any data on their effectiveness on any scale. If you're going to try and make money writing a book, you could at least do some real research rather than relaying general knowledge that can be found anywhere. There isn't anything here that anyone with IBD didn't learn upon diagnosis.
---The last half of the book is full of recipes that may or may not be helpful. Since the effectiveness isn't listed, its hard to judge which to try.
---For a book that claims to be worth $20, I was disappointed.

Unlike Dr. Scala's book, this book actually does address the topic of inflammatory bowel disease as it pertains to nutrition and Greenwood does a good, if technical job, of outlining the major issues of nutrition in the role of IBD. She outlines numerous diets for different IBD situations and has many recipes available (pretty much the bulk of the book). My criticism centers around two points: 1) for me as a vegetarian, many of the diets were inaccessible due to their reliance on meat (a common occurrence in IBD books since meat is very low-residue) and 2) the recipes are very hard to read since she has detailed metric and standard measurements (which are laid out oddly) and each recipe is followed by a very technical breakdown of its elements - even to the kilojoule of energy! If you are a carnivore, I think this could be a very useful book to have - or at least to read.

I could tell right away that the author, a general nutritionist, knew little about IBD before being commissioned to write this book. There's a little text (rather stiffly written) at the beginning that sounds like the boilerplate stuff you'd find in any introductory book on IBD. Most of the book, though, is made up of recipes, which don't sound much different from recipes you'd find in any cookbook. All in all, not a good match between writer and subject.

The recipes have milk and cheese -- IBD makes many people lactose intolerant. Also, recipes include nuts and mayo and beans, etc. Virtually no recipes I can have. This book may work for someone, but it was a big disappointment for me.

The Heather Van Vorous book, Eating for IBS, is great.

Clinical dietitian/nutritionist's overview of the role of diet in IBD, including recipes and meal plans. What you eat can make a big difference in how well you live with IBD. Since poor nutrition, and even malnutrition, is common among people afflicted with the disease, it's essential that IBD sufferers eat a well-balanced diet. In this guide, you'll find out: why good nutrition is important in peole with IBD; how to make it easy to eat a balanced diet if you are a on a high fiber, restricted lactose, or other type of modified diet; learn symptoms and situations that may apply to you. On CCFA and CCFC's book list

I needed the recording and it was out of stock at Amazon so I clicked on the ad at the bottom of the page on Amazon for Health Journeys, the company that produces the recording. They sell direct downloads of MP3s of the recordings. Needing the recording, I downloaded it. Now due to some strange hardware problems, both the external hard drive and the iPod files are lost. Despite having a record of my purchase, Health Journeys will not let me download them again, and instead suggest I purchase them again. They have a 30 day support policy and THAT'S IT! Word to the wise, unless you want to throw away your money, avoid using Health Journeys recordings. They are not a company you want to do business with!

I've suffered from IBS for years, ever since some horrendous experiences, compounded by subsequent physical problems. What I like about this meditation is it focuses on mind, body and spirit in a very powerful way. You put your own hands on your belly and imagine that healing is coming from them, right into your intestinal walls. Adding that component to the already excellent psychological and emotional imagery really accomplishes a very deep calming of my insides. I use this woman's work a lot. It's very sophisticated but not head-trippy, and it goes right into the body.

Although I thought this book did not have enough pages, it is more like a thick pamphlet, I did love the theory of juicing to cure IBD, I tried it and it worked! I love my juicer, all my symptoms are gone!
The book is a little too vegan for me, I am not that strict with my diet, but now I juice one meal a day and have never felt better. The book is also a little preachy at the end with religion...

This slim volume by co-authors Zonderman (a writer with Crohns Disease) and his gastroenterologist Vender packs a lot of punch in a brief amount of time. Very up to date in terms of medication information and surgery, the authors also do an excellent job of describing the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease and WHY you are feeling this way (something I've yet to come across in any other book on IBD). I was disappointed in the primitive line drawings used to illustrate the book and in the negative attitude toward some alternative medical treatments discussed in the "mind/body" chapter (although I was pleased to see its inclusion). The authors should be commended for approaching the emotional aspects of IBD in a forthright manner and the book would be an appropriate addition to any IBD library.

For the newly diagnosed patient, for the patient who has lived with IBD for years, and for their families, the book's objective is to "make you a better informed patient who can understand what your doctor is doing and why". This book is rather outdated and doesn't include recent medical research and drug treatments.

For the newly diagnosed patient, for the patient who has lived with IBD for years, and for their families, the book's objective is to "make you a better informed patient who can understand what your doctor is doing and why". This book is rather outdated and doesn't include recent medical research and drug treatments. At last check this book was out of stock indefinately, but you can check it's availability

the only reason it has one star is that is the lowest rating, otherwise it would have zero stars. the CD kept crashing - i was only able to download the two documents and then it stopped registering on my computer. i tried it on both a mac and a pc, kept rebooting and it still didn't work. complete rip off and the very limited info that i was able to open was not helpful at all.