By By Kimberly Reynolds Jan 20, 2014 in Health Advances in mobile technology benefiting both patients and physicians, and the advances in research in the area of the genetics of Crohn’s Disease hold promise for major changes in 2014. Crohn’s Disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that effects the gastrointestinal tract and causes a wide variety of symptoms. These symptoms may include abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and weight loss. Control Symptoms and Maintain Remission Despite the advances in the understanding of Crohn’s Disease, there is as yet Crohn’s Disease Treatment Goes Mobile In particular, Donald Saelinger believes that mobile technology is changing the way patients with a chronic disease such as Crohn’s manage their condition. New smartphones are empowering patients by sending reminders to take medication at the proper time and providing an instant communication to their physician. Donald Saelinger feels this access to instant communication will improve the ability of the patient to manage the pain and offer relief by reducing the time between the beginning of a flare-up and initiation of treatment. As with any chronic illness, early initiation of treatment of exacerbating systems is important. Patient Management Donald Saelinger believes the ability of a patient to have, in their hand, a detailed history of their condition and easy communication options to their physician is vital for self-management of the outbreaks. “Because there is no cure for Crohn’s Disease it is critical for patients to be directly involved in their care, so that exacerbations can be prevented,” Donald Saelinger says. He continues, “A smartphone can be the difference in how a patient is able to manage the symptoms early. This is especially true if the patient lives in a remote location or doesn’t have quick easy access to their physician. Chronic disease management of conditions such as Crohn’s Disease represents one of the greatest health care challenges in many communities in America. The use of a remote monitoring device, such as a smartphone, enables patients to record their own health measures and send them electronically to physicians or specialists. Better Contact with Physician Once the physician or specialist receives the information they can quickly determine if the patient requires immediate treatment in a hospital or clinic or if the symptoms can be managed at home with some assistance. This according to Donald Saelinger gives the physician more information on the current state of the condition and reduces the need for more personal visits, saves money and may prevent a costly emergency room visit “The more information a physician has at their fingertips regarding the patient, the less time is spent during visits reviewing the patient’s history. This gives the physician more time to spend on ways to manage the condition.” Healthcare Becomes Personal The more information a patient has for the management of a chronic condition the more empowered they feel. This results in the patient taking a more active role in the treatment and diagnosis of their ailment. “There is no cure yet for Crohn’s Disease,” says Saelinger, “but the advancements in mobile communication mean a patient no longer feels alone and that is sometimes the best possible medicine.” In 2014, Donald Saelinger believes that more patients and physicians will embrace smartphone technology and that this simple tool could help reduce the patient discomfort, give physicians more up to date information and reduce the number of visits to a medical facility. A smartphone could reduce the overall costs to the In the course of his medical career, Dr. Donald Saelinger has seen many important advances in the care and treatment of patients living with inflammatory bowel disease, especially Crohn’s Disease. Examples of such breakthroughs include the finding of the association of genetic variations in the NOD2 gene and Crohn’s Disease as well as the advances in the treatment of this disease with various biological agents.Crohn’s Disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that effects the gastrointestinal tract and causes a wide variety of symptoms. These symptoms may include abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and weight loss. Crohn’s Disease may also cause problems outside the gastrointestinal tract such as anemia, skin outbreaks, arthritis, inflammation and irritation of the eye, exhaustion, and lack of concentration.Despite the advances in the understanding of Crohn’s Disease, there is as yet no known cure for the condition. Treatment is focused on controlling the symptoms and induction and maintenance of remission. In this field of study Donald Saelinger believes great strides are being made to mitigate the discomfort of the disease as well as maintaining remission. These strides are not a cure, but to the estimated 700,000 Americans living with the disease, any ability to reduce the severity and frequency of flare-ups is welcome news.In particular, Donald Saelinger believes that mobile technology is changing the way patients with a chronic disease such as Crohn’s manage their condition. New smartphones are empowering patients by sending reminders to take medication at the proper time and providing an instant communication to their physician. Donald Saelinger feels this access to instant communication will improve the ability of the patient to manage the pain and offer relief by reducing the time between the beginning of a flare-up and initiation of treatment. As with any chronic illness, early initiation of treatment of exacerbating systems is important.Donald Saelinger believes the ability of a patient to have, in their hand, a detailed history of their condition and easy communication options to their physician is vital for self-management of the outbreaks. “Because there is no cure for Crohn’s Disease it is critical for patients to be directly involved in their care, so that exacerbations can be prevented,” Donald Saelinger says. He continues, “A smartphone can be the difference in how a patient is able to manage the symptoms early.This is especially true if the patient lives in a remote location or doesn’t have quick easy access to their physician. Chronic disease management of conditions such as Crohn’s Disease represents one of the greatest health care challenges in many communities in America. The use of a remote monitoring device, such as a smartphone, enables patients to record their own health measures and send them electronically to physicians or specialists.Once the physician or specialist receives the information they can quickly determine if the patient requires immediate treatment in a hospital or clinic or if the symptoms can be managed at home with some assistance. This according to Donald Saelinger gives the physician more information on the current state of the condition and reduces the need for more personal visits, saves money and may prevent a costly emergency room visit “The more information a physician has at their fingertips regarding the patient, the less time is spent during visits reviewing the patient’s history. This gives the physician more time to spend on ways to manage the condition.”The more information a patient has for the management of a chronic condition the more empowered they feel. This results in the patient taking a more active role in the treatment and diagnosis of their ailment. “There is no cure yet for Crohn’s Disease,” says Saelinger, “but the advancements in mobile communication mean a patient no longer feels alone and that is sometimes the best possible medicine.”In 2014, Donald Saelinger believes that more patients and physicians will embrace smartphone technology and that this simple tool could help reduce the patient discomfort, give physicians more up to date information and reduce the number of visits to a medical facility. A smartphone could reduce the overall costs to the healthcare system . This technology and the advances in research in the area of the genetics of Crohn’s Disease hold promise for 2014. More about Crohn's Disease, New technology, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Crohn s Disease New technology Inflammatory Bowel D... Latest News Top News