A lot has been said about the human gut. It’s been called a “Second Brain” due to its ability to operate independently and its link to a person’s state of mind.1 It’s also been said to play an important role in the human immune system.2 It can be a home to butterflies, or spilled when someone tells a secret. It can even be what we’re supposed to listen to, trust and follow when faced with hard decisions. But what happens when the gut can’t be trusted and becomes unpredictable and painful? Or it starts to keep dangerous secrets, harboring a potentially devastating disease?
About 60-70 million people in the U.S. alone are trapped in a love-hate relationship with their gut. For these people suffering from gastroenterology and hepatology diseases, “gut-wrenching” takes on a whole new meaning.3 They are faced with uncomfortable symptoms that can impact several aspects of their lives.
This week, AbbVie joins the gastroenterology and hepatology community at the annual Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) meeting to take a closer look at serious diseases like the hepatitis C virus (HCV), Crohn’s disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI). We shared research and information on the latest treatments and dug deeper into why, for these patients, their guts are the last thing they can trust.