Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are inflammatory bowel conditions that can make life almost intolerable for sufferers.

Both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis cause symptoms including chronic diarrhoea, severe abdominal pain, weight loss, extreme tiredness and psychological problems. In extreme cases, these inflammatory bowel diseases can even be life-threatening.

Around one in 400 people in the UK suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the number of new cases is rising, especially among children.

Understanding the causes of IBD is critical to discovering new treatments. For many years, Action Medical Research has funded a range of studies by the best researchers in the field to try and address the gap in our knowledge of why and how IBD strikes.

Most recently our researchers have been focussing on the genetic factors which may be involved in IBD (Dr Rachel Cooney’s project at Oxford University and Dr Van Limbergen’s in Edinburgh) and how inflammation and scarring develop in the gut. (Dr Paul Bland’s research and Professor Carding’s research).

We are continuing to strive to prevent the disease and improve treatments by funding high-quality projects like these.