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LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (December 15, 2010) — Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition, by Margaret A. Oppenheimer, was reviewed in the Fall 2010 of Take Charge, a publication of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. The book, about a neglected dietary treatment for Crohn's disease, is described in the review as "an invaluable guide to implementing the diet and comparing it to other treatment options." It is "skillfully written," and has "great value" even for patients who are not considering enteral feeding.

If you'd like a review copy of Beat Crohn's or wish to schedule an interview with the author, please contact Solutions . An online media kit is available at www.solutionsbooks.us/media.html.

Book information: Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition. By Margaret A. Oppenheimer. Solutions, 2009. Paperback, $16.95. ISBN 978-0-9821234-4-7.

Solutions is a small press located in Long Island City, New York.

Contact: Solutions

LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (November 20, 2009) — Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition, by Margaret A. Oppenheimer, was reviewed in the November issue of Dietetics Today, a publication of the British Dietetic Association. Reviewer Hazel Duncan, a pediatric dietitian at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, says the book is "a must read for all professionals involved in treating Crohn's disease." Although, as she notes, it "is aimed at and is suitable for the layperson," Duncan finds it a "valuable resource" for health-care providers as well, being "detailed, accurate and well researched."

Beat Crohn's, published by Solutions in June 2009, describes a neglected dietary treatment for Crohn's disease. The clinically tested therapy, developed in the 1960s, involves using special liquid formulas instead of, or in addition to, regular food and beverages to induce and maintain remission. If you'd like a review copy of the book or wish to schedule an interview with the author, please contact Solutions . An online media kit is available at www.solutionsbooks.us/media.html.

Book information: Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition. By Margaret A. Oppenheimer. Solutions, 2009. Paperback, $16.95. ISBN 978-0-9821234-4-7.

Solutions is a small press located in Long Island City, New York.

Contact: Solutions

LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (September 21, 2009) — Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition, by Margaret A. Oppenheimer, was featured recently in the ADA Times, a publication of the American Dietetic Association. Readers will find a cover image and description of Beat Crohn's on the "New Books and Resources" page of the Summer 2009 issue.

Beat Crohn's, published by Solutions in June 2009, describes a neglected dietary treatment for Crohn's disease. The clinically tested therapy, developed in the 1960s, involves using special liquid formulas instead of, or in addition to, regular food and beverages to induce and maintain remission. If you'd like a review copy of the book or wish to schedule an interview with the author, please contact Solutions. An online media kit is available at www.solutionsbooks.us/media.html.

Book information: Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition. By Margaret A. Oppenheimer. Solutions, 2009. Paperback, $16.95. ISBN 978-0-9821234-4-7.

Solutions is a small press located in Long Island City, New York.

LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (September 15, 2009) — A neglected dietary treatment for Crohn's disease is the subject of an upcoming talk by medical writer Margaret Oppenheimer. The program will take place at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester (NY), 1100 Edgewood Avenue, on Sunday, November 1, at 11:00 AM (free, but reservations required, 585-461-2000 or rjbf.org).

The speaker will highlight a clinically tested therapy for Crohn's that was developed in the United States in the late 1960s. Special liquid formulas are used instead of, or in addition to, regular food and beverages in order to induce and maintain remission from the chronic digestive disease.

Oppenheimer is the author of a recent book on the subject, Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition (Solutions, June 2009). In her talk at the JCC, she will discuss the pros and cons of the nutritional treatment, which can be as effective as corticosteroids, particularly in children, but is rarely prescribed in the US today. Find out why it is used, how it compares with medications, and why doctors rarely mention it to their patients.

Oppenheimer, who has worked as a medical writer for more than 10 years, has personal experience with enteral nutrition. Her talk is part of the JCC's 17th Annual Lane Dworkin Jewish Book Festival. Crohn's disease, which affects around 500,000 to 600,000 children and adults in the US, is three to four times more common in Jews than in the general population.

Book information: Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition. By Margaret A. Oppenheimer. Solutions, 2009. Paperback, $16.95. ISBN 978-0-9821234-4-7.

If you'd like a review copy of the book or wish to schedule an interview with the author, please contact Solutions. An online media kit is available at www.solutionsbooks.us/media.html.

Solutions is a small press located in Long Island City, New York.

LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (June 15, 2009) — A neglected dietary treatment for Crohn's disease is the intriguing subject of a newly published book. The clinically tested therapy, developed in the 1960s, involves using special liquid formulas instead of, or in addition to, regular food and beverages to induce and maintain remission. The upside? There are few side effects and improvement can be rapid. Many patients see a noticeable reduction in symptoms within the first 10 days.

The downside is having to stick to a liquid diet temporarily. That's the reason few American doctors urge their patients to try "enteral nutrition"—the term used to refer to the liquid diet regimen. A survey of pediatric gastroenterologists conducted several years ago found that only 4% of the US respondents commonly offered enteral nutrition to the children they treated, compared with 62% of the respondents in Western Europe and 36% of those in Canada.(1) Adult patients are even less likely to hear about enteral nutrition.

Margaret A. Oppenheimer, author of Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition (Solutions, available June 15, 2009), would like to see the treatment offered routinely to kids and adults with Crohn's. "I feel patients deserve to know about this therapy," Oppenheimer says. "Granted, it's not as easy as taking a pill, but some patients don't respond to medications or experience serious side effects; they need to know another treatment option exists."

One big advantage of enteral nutrition is that it can help patients avoid the use of corticosteroids, powerful anti-inflammatory drugs with an array of nasty side effects—weight gain and insomnia, mood swings and anger, bone loss and cataracts, to name just a few. In kids, enteral nutrition can help reverse growth delays caused by Crohn's.

The treatment has a curious history. Enteral nutrition was originally developed to provide nutritional support for patients with any type of serious illness. But some of the research was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which needed compact, low-residue, meal-replacement products for astronauts to use during space flight.

Ultimately medical rather than aeronautical uses of the formulas prevailed. Today enteral nutrition formulas are used in hospitals to treat patients who are too ill to tolerate solid food. Their more specialized role in the management of Crohn's disease was discovered by chance. When the liquid diets were first given to people with Crohn's in the late 1960s, researchers were surprised to find that some of the patients not only improved nutritionally, but also went into remission or no longer needed scheduled surgery. Subsequently, controlled clinical trials confirmed that enteral nutrition could be used to induce remission from Crohn's disease, although scientists still don't know why the liquid diet works.

'Enteral nutrition is not a cure for Crohn's, a chronic illness causing inflammation and ulcerations in the gastrointestinal tract. The nutritional therapy induces remission temporarily, but patients remain at risk of another relapse. However, sufferers can return to enteral nutrition to treat future disease flares. In addition, using smaller amounts of of the liquid formulas alongside a regular diet can help keep the illness in remission.

Patients who have tried enteral nutrition are enthusiastic about the benefits. In a survey of adults treated with enteral nutrition, 65% said they would prefer it to other medical treatments to treat a future relapse.(2) Ellen, who has two kids with Crohn's and suffers from the disease herself, says:

"If I had to summarize how I feel about enteral nutrition in one word, I would say 'miracle,' maybe 'magic.' My 13-year-old, who has used enteral nutrition three times to turn around his active ileocolonic Crohn's disease says 'cure.' Given our family's incredible success with enteral nutrition over the last seven years, and the strong research suggesting that so many others could profit from it, I am always surprised that doctors don't push this treatment, let alone mention it to their patients. Sometimes I want to shout from the rooftops that this is the treatment that can help those of us with Crohn's disease today."

In Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition, Oppenheimer provides a patient-friendly overview of the extensive medical literature devoted to this neglected therapy. She describes who can benefit from enteral nutrition, why patients might want to use it, what symptoms respond best, and how it compares with medications. Readers will also find practical tips on using enteral nutrition and stories of kids and adults who have tried it. Oppenheimer has worked as a medical writer for more than 10 years, and has personal experience with enteral nutrition.

Book information: Beat Crohn's! Getting to Remission with Enteral Nutrition. By Margaret A. Oppenheimer. 304 pages, 6 by 9 inches, notes, bibliography, index. Paperback, $16.95. ISBN 978-0-9821234-4-7. Publisher: Solutions. Publication date: June 15, 2009.

If you'd like a review copy of the book or wish to schedule an interview with the author, please contact Solutions. An online media kit is available at www.solutionsbooks.us/media.html.

Solutions is a small press located in Long Island City, New York.

(1) Levine A, Milo T, Buller H, Markowitz J. Consensus and controversy in the management of pediatric Crohn disease: an international survey. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2003 Apr;36(4):464-9.

(2) Teahon K, Pearson M, Levi AJ, Bjarnason I. Practical aspects of enteral nutrition in the management of Crohn's disease. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 1995 Sep-Oct;19(5):365-8.