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Crohn's Disease Awareness
Image of a family
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Crohn's Awareness is dedicated to educating people about Crohn's Disease and providing valuable resources to Crohn's patients, their friends and family, Doctors, and those who simply want to learn more about the disease.  Currently, there is no cure for this often times debilitating disease.  From education is understanding, understanding breeds action, and through action comes a cure.  On this site you will find pages that explain Crohn's Disease, resources for managing your disease, recent news concerning Crohn's, ways to contribute to the fight against Crohn's Disease, and reports on recent developments in Crohn's Disease research.

Immunization to prevent Crohn's Disease

MMPs, matrix metalloproteinase enzymes, are crucial in wound healing, cellular mobilization and proliferation, etc.  When MMPs malfunction, particularly in the case of MMP9, they can actually help activate autoimmune diseases and cancers.

In the December 25 issue of Nature Medicine, Prof. Irit Sagi, PhD, outlined how the immune systems of mice with disease that models Crohn's Disease could be tricked into targeting MMP9 and preventing it from aiding the activation of Crohn's Disease symptoms.

Using synthetic molecules that inhibit MMP9 function, Dr. Sagi and the team of researchers hope to one day be able to successfully treat and prevent active Crohn's Disease.

created April 1, 2011          last updated January 1, 2012