All explainers
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Learning to Live With IBD: What a Cochrane Review Found About Patient Education Programs
A 2023 Cochrane systematic review examined the trial evidence for structured patient education interventions in inflammatory bowel disease, assessing whether programmes delivered by nurses, clinicians, or digital tools affect disease activity, quality of life, and patients' ability to manage their own condition.
Telehealth for IBD: What a Cochrane Review Found About Remote Care
A Cochrane systematic review evaluated whether digital and remote care tools, including apps, telephone follow-up, and web-based monitoring platforms, change outcomes for people living with inflammatory bowel disease. Here is what the evidence found, and why certainty still matters.
Urostomy Care: What a 2026 Evidence Synthesis Means for Patients
A June 2026 study in BMC Nursing used a systematic review of evidence and a modified Delphi consensus process with nursing specialists to identify and validate the core components of nursing care for adult patients living with a urostomy.
Azathioprine and 6-MP for Ulcerative Colitis: A 2025 Cochrane Review on Long-Term Remission
A 2025 Cochrane systematic review synthesises randomised trial evidence on azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine for maintaining remission in ulcerative colitis. These widely used medications have decades of clinical history, but patients often have questions about what the evidence actually shows and what routine monitoring involves.
When One IBD Treatment Is Not Enough: A 2026 Review on Combining Biologics
A systematic review and meta-analysis pooling 52 studies and 2,022 participants found early safety signals for combining two advanced IBD drugs, but the certainty of evidence is rated very low across all analyses.
Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis: What the 2026 GETECCU Position Statement Means for Patients
A June 2026 position statement from Spain's IBD working group GETECCU sets out the diagnostic criteria and stepwise treatment pathway for acute severe UC: IV steroids first, rescue therapy if steroids fail, colectomy when rescue therapy is not enough. Here is what patients living with ulcerative colitis should know about this rare but serious complication.
Prebiotics for Ulcerative Colitis: A 2024 Cochrane Review Weighs the Evidence
A 2024 Cochrane systematic review pooled nine randomised controlled trials to assess whether prebiotic fibre supplements can help induce or maintain remission in ulcerative colitis. Across all comparisons, the certainty of evidence was rated very low to low, leaving clinical recommendations for or against prebiotics in UC currently out of reach.
Vitamin D and IBD: What a Cochrane Review of 22 Trials Found — and What Remains Uncertain
A 2023 Cochrane systematic review examined 22 randomised controlled trials with 1,874 participants living with IBD. The review found a possible reduction in clinical relapse with vitamin D supplementation — but rates certainty of evidence as low, and cannot yet draw conclusions on quality of life or disease response.