Treatment of Anxiety in Children and Adolescents with IBD

Children and adolescents diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with untreated anxiety represent a serious public health concern since these psychological conditions are disabling and may interact with health-related outcomes such as disease activity and management. We are conducting a randomized control trial to evaluate the potential efficacy of two psychotherapeutic approaches for youth, ages 8 to 17, with IBD and anxiety.

Contact Information:
Dr. Laura Reigada 212-241-5415
718-951-5000 (ext. 6021)
lreigada@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Ongoing and Past Research Projects at the Center

• Chinese Herbal Medicine (FAHF-2) For Crohn’s Disease (Ages 6-21) - The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of an Herbal formula (FAHF-2) for the treatment of Crohn’s disease.  This is a laboratory study looking to see how blood and colon tissue cells of children with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis or neither react to this herbal formula.
• Growth Study - This study is being done to see if the height of children with Crohn’s disease differs from normal standards and what factors, if any, are related to decreased height.  Focus is on disease presentation, disease location, medications, surgeries, parental heights and how these are correlated to the child’s height.  This study branches off to two studies, one looking at all of the children and another looking at those children over 18 years old who have already achieved their adult height.
• 6-Mercatopurine Study - The purpose of this study is to help us learn if there are infections associated with the use of 6-Mercaptopurine.  This study looks at children who have been on this medication long term to see if there is an association between the medication and infection.
• Methotrexate and IBD - The purpose of this study is to look at the clinical outcome of pediatric patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease on methotrexate.  The study is looking to see if methotrexate (an immunomodulator) is a well tolerated, reasonable alternate to other immunomodulators used for the treatment of IBD.
• Survey of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Children with IBD – This study looked at the current and past use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use(CAM) in children with IBD and predictors of CAM use.
• Analysis of Current Treatments Used in Clinical Practice in a Pediatric Summer Camp Population for Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Many treatment options exist for children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), yet the lack of clinical guidelines for management has lead to great variation in care. The purpose of this project was to evaluate current treatment modalities in children from the Northeast US who applied to the 2010 session of Camp Oasis, a Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA)-sponsored camp for children ages 8–17 with medically stable IBD. Identifying current treatment patterns may serve to highlight variations in care among this pediatric IBD population. Published Nov. 8, 2011 in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.
• Infliximab and Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis – This study looks at infliximab as a long-term therapy for children with ulcerative colitis (UC). The aim of this study is to determine the three-year clinical and surgical outcomes in our pediatric UC patients who received infliximab. By doing this, we hope to determine if the use of infliximab in pediatric UC can change the natural progression of the disease.