Gut Heroes Goals
✔️ To raise awareness around autoimmune disease
Most people have very little awareness or understanding of autoimmune diseases. And yet…
🟢 In the UK over 4 million people have developed an autoimmune disease
🟢 Up to 5 – 8% of the US population may have an autoimmune disease (according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA)
🟢 It is estimated that globally autoimmune disease cases are rising 3% – 9% every year
✔️ To encourage faster diagnosis
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– Faster diagnosis (Have a little section here with the big number which animates and says 19 years or whatever it is for the average diagnosis and then underneath in small italics have the sauce of that information)
✔️ To advocate for more scientific research into gut health and the microbiome
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✔️ To open source patient findings (reliably and securely)
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✔️ To create a resource hub for rheumatologists
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✔️ To create a resource hub for physiotherapists and osteopaths
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✔️ To create a volunteer database for studies
Get a list of AS patients and ad patients who are willing to put themselves forward for studies because that is the future
GOAL #1 – To Reintroduce Diet and Gut Health as Treatment for Ankylosing Spondylitis
Targets the root cause
Looks to deal with the underlying issue, rather than symptom-blocking
More cost effective
In many cases does not involve expensive patented drugs, treatments or prescriptions
Safer and with less side effects
Immunosuppressants can leave the patient vulnerable to other issues.
The London AS Diet (developed by UCL) was successfully used by the UK’s National Health Service in the treatment of over 400 patients until the closure of Middlesex Hospital.
Here are some stats:
Patients with AS treated through diet by the NHS
%
50% no longer required medication as a result
Posts on managing AS through diet on leading resource***
Problems with current treatments
Side effect: weakened immune system
increased risk of infections, including serious bacterial, viral and fungal infections
Expensive: cost of £9,155.64 per year, per patient
to treat ankylosing spondylitis using Humira*
* Source: Until the programme was lost with the closure of the Middlesex Hospital
** Source: According to recorded results
*** Source: KickAS website, corrected as of 28/04/23. KickAS.org
*”The list price of originator adalimumab (Humira, AbbVie) is £352.14 per 40 mg pre-filled pen or pre-filled syringe (excluding VAT; BNF online, accessed March 2021)”. Source, NICE 2021 A typical dose for an patient with ankylosing spondylitis might be 40 mg every other week. £352.14 per dose × 26 doses = £9,155.64 per year (excluding VAT)
58% of patients treated with adalimumab achieved at least a 20% improvement in the Assessment in Ankylosing Spondylitis (ASAS) response criteria (ASAS20) compared to 21% of patients receiving a placebo. The ATLAS (Adalimumab Trial Evaluating Long-Term Efficacy and Safety in Ankylosing Spondylitis) study was a multicenter, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving 315 adult patients with active ankylosing spondylitis. These patients were randomly assigned to receive either adalimumab or a placebo, with 208 patients receiving adalimumab and 107 patients receiving the placebo. The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adalimumab in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis over a 24-week period.
GOAL #1 – To Reintroduce Diet and Gut Health as Treatment for Ankylosing Spondylitis
The London AS Diet (developed by UCL) was successfully used by the NHS in the treatment of over 400 patients until the closure of Middlesex Hospital
Targets the root cause
Looks to deal with the underlying issue, rather than symptom-blocking
More cost effective
In many cases does not involve expensive patented drugs, treatments or prescriptions
Safer and with less side effects
Immunosuppressants can leave the patient vulnerable to other issues.
Side effect: weakened immune system
increased risk of infections, including serious bacterial, viral and fungal infections
Expensive: cost of £9,155.64 per year, per patient
to treat ankylosing spondylitis using Humira*
References
* Source: Until the programme was lost with the closure of the Middlesex Hospital
** Source: According to recorded results
*** Source: KickAS website, corrected as of 28/04/23. KickAS.org
*”The list price of originator adalimumab (Humira, AbbVie) is £352.14 per 40 mg pre-filled pen or pre-filled syringe (excluding VAT; BNF online, accessed March 2021)”. Source, NICE 2021 A typical dose for an patient with ankylosing spondylitis might be 40 mg every other week. £352.14 per dose × 26 doses = £9,155.64 per year (excluding VAT)
58% of patients treated with adalimumab achieved at least a 20% improvement in the Assessment in Ankylosing Spondylitis (ASAS) response criteria (ASAS20) compared to 21% of patients receiving a placebo. The ATLAS (Adalimumab Trial Evaluating Long-Term Efficacy and Safety in Ankylosing Spondylitis) study was a multicenter, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving 315 adult patients with active ankylosing spondylitis. These patients were randomly assigned to receive either adalimumab or a placebo, with 208 patients receiving adalimumab and 107 patients receiving the placebo. The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adalimumab in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis over a 24-week period.