Crohn's & Colitis Foundation Adds New Features to Online Inflammatory Bowel Disease Community

New interactive components lead to better Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis education and disease management

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America today announced the launch of new enhancements and resources to its online community (www.ccfacommunity.org). Developed to meet the dynamic needs of patient groups, this site serves as a free resource to provide patients and families with the vital peer support they need in managing Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, chronic digestive diseases affecting over 1.4 million Americans.  

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New site features on the Crohn's & Colitis Community enable the patient and doctor to better understand Crohn's and colitis through a personalized IBD Knowledge Navigator, which provides customized educational content based on an individual's specific condition. Additionally, the community now provides a forum to have questions answered by an expert panel of healthcare professionals in the Ask an Expert tool. Site users will also have the ability to locate pertinent topics and archived Ask an Expert questions and answers easily using the searchable Expert Q&A Library.

"With the help of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's online community Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients are now able to more effectively take control of their disease, resulting in an improved way of life," says Kimberly Frederick, Vice President of Patient and Professional Services for the Foundation. "Every Crohn's and colitis patient is different, so the IBD Knowledge Navigator helps individuals determine how to manage their particular case, while the Ask an Expert form and the Expert Q&A Library allow for quick feedback on disease-specific questions from experts."

Since its initial launch in March 2008, nearly 10,000 people have joined this online peer support community and tens of thousands of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients and caregivers of all ages from around the world frequently visit the site to obtain the vital peer support they need in managing these painful and, at times, debilitating digestive diseases.

These exciting new features align closely with the popular resources already found on the Crohn's & Colitis Community web site.  Hundreds of users are currently sharing their personal stories about living with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Additionally, users actively participate in the site's online discussion board, which consists of ten forums: Newly Diagnosed; Travel; Treatments; Managing Symptoms; Everyday Living; Emotional Wellness; Dealing with Surgery/Life after Surgery; Parents and Caregivers; Women's Issues; and Men's Issues. Patients and families can also take advantage of resources to make disease management easier, such as downloadable medication and symptom tracker logs.

This valuable resource was made possible through an unrestricted grant from Abbott Immunology, to better help users get the support they need in managing IBD.

The Foundation advises users to always check with their personal physician before taking any action regarding their health.

About Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis 

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are painful, medically incurable illnesses that attack the digestive system. Crohn's disease may attack anywhere, while ulcerative colitis inflames only the large intestine (colon). Symptoms may include abdominal pain, bleeding, fever and weight loss. Many patients require hospitalization and surgery. These illnesses can cause severe complications, including colon cancer in patients with long-term disease. Some 1.4 million American adults and children suffer from Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, with as many as 150,000 under the age of 18. Most people develop the diseases between the ages of 15 and 35.

About the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America

The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America's mission is to cure Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults affected by these diseases. The Foundation ranks third among leading health non-profits in the percentage of expense devoted to research toward a cure, with more than 79 cents of every dollar the Foundation spends goes to mission-critical programs. The Foundation consistently meets the standards of organizations that monitor charities, including the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance (give.org) and the American Institute of Philanthropy (charitywatch.org). For more information, contact the Foundation at 800-932-2423 or visit www.ccfa.org. Join CCFA on Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/supportccfa/ and follow CCFA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ccfa.

SOURCE Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America