Crohn's disease information should be brought to public attention
It was wonderful to read a front story focused on one young woman's determination to raise awareness for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). As stated in the article ("Young Woman Learns to Live With Crohn's," Examiner, April 17, 2008), there are many thousands of people in New Jersey alone who suffer from these devastating and often debilitating diseases.

Unfortunately, because discussing irritable bowel disease makes many people uncomfortable and/or self-conscious, these conditions are rarely brought to the public's attention. Even medications that are widely used to treat Crohn's and UC are most often advertised as treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, yet another awful autoimmune disease, albeit one that is considered more mainstream.

I do think the reporter could have brought even more information to your readers had she provided at least one paragraph on the many things that the Crohn's Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) does to benefit and educate patients and their families, besides the walk in Belmar.

As the facilitator of the CCFA support group in Monmouth County, and a person who has lived with UC for more than 50 years, I feel that at the very least, the reporter should have provided the CCFA Web site for people who are interested in finding out more about the diseases, the walk and other fundraising efforts, as well as news on the medical front, support group information, and additional inspirational stories.

To that end, I respectfully submit that Web site here: http://www.ccfa.org/. My hope is that people will visit the site to learn and understand more about these diseases, as well as lend support for further research.

Helene Dortheimer

Manalapan