Over the past 20 years, TP use has doubled, whereas intestinal surgery has fallen by one-third among the UK population of Crohn's patients. Prolonged exposure is associated with a reduced likelihood of surgery whereby more than 12 months TP therapy reduces the risk of first intestinal surgery two-fold; however, early initiation of TP treatment offered no apparent additional benefit.

TP use is associated with a 40% lowered risk of surgical resection in patients with CD. Despite significant reductions in rates of surgical resection in patients with CD over the last 5 decades and increasing use of TPs, a large proportion of patients with CD still require resectional surgery.

SUMMARY BackgroundDiagnostic imaging plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis and management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); however, increasing use has led to concerns about the malignant potential of ionising radiation. Several studies have demonstrated that diagnostic imaging can result in exposure to potentially harmful levels of ionising radiation in IBD patients.

SUMMARY BackgroundThe role of thiopurines in altering the risk of colectomy in ulcerative colitis (UC) remains unclear.

No abstract

This column reports a detailed, questionnaire-based, post-release feedback survey of 200 users of the AIDA version 4 educational diabetes simulator. AIDA is a freeware computer program that permits the interactive simulation of plasma insulin and blood glucose profiles for educational, demonstration, self-learning, and research purposes. Since its Internet launch in 1996 over 700,000 visits have been logged to the AIDA Websites-including www.2aida.org-and over 200,000 program copies have been downloaded free-of-charge. The main goals of the current study were: (1) to establish what people have thought about the AIDA program, (2) to assess the utility of the software, and (3) to ascertain how much people have actually used it. An analysis was therefore undertaken of the first 200 feedback forms that were returned by AIDA users. The questionnaire-based survey methodology was found to be robust and reliable. Feedback forms were received from participants in 21 countries. One hundred six of 209 responses (50.7%) were received from people with diabetes, and 36 of 209 (17.2%) from relatives of patients, with lesser numbers from doctors, students, diabetes educators, nurses, pharmacists, and other end users. Please note some respondents fulfilled more than one end-user category, hence the denominator <200; for example, someone with diabetes who was also a doctor. This study has established the feasibility of using a simple feedback form to survey a substantial number of diabetes software users. In addition, it has yielded interesting data in terms of who are the main users of the AIDA program, and has also provided technical (computer) information that has aided the release of a freeware upgrade to the software. In general, users reported finding the program to be of educational value. The majority also felt it would be of interest to diabetes educators and people with diabetes. Most were clear about its limitations as a simulator-based learning tool. The implications of these findings will be discussed.

Objective The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in a multicultural inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cohort and determine predictors of deficiency including ethnicity. Design Patients with IBD were recruited into a dedicated database over a 6-month period and evaluated retrospectively. Setting

Approximately 1 in 13 patients in the study cohort were exposed to potentially harmful levels of ionising radiation. Strategies to minimise exposure to diagnostic medical radiation in IBD patients are required.