CLINICAL FEATURE
A Multidisciplinary Approach to IBD at University Hospitals
By Alex Strauss
Dahlia Awais, MD, is a board-certifi ed gastroenterologist with the UH Digestive Health Institute Infl ammatory Bowel Disease Center.
from infl ammatory bowel disease (IBD), an autoimmune disorder that can cause pain, weight loss, damage to the skin, eyes and joints, and serious life disruption. Not to be confused with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the name given to a host of less serious digestive disorders, IBD encompasses two chronic infl ammatory conditions — ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease — and is the focus of its own Center of Excellence within University Hospitals Digestive Health Institute. “There are many facets to this disease,
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so the idea here was to offer very com- prehensive care for patients with IBD,” explains colorectal surgeon Sharon Stein, MD, surgical director of the UH Digestive Health Institute Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. “We don’t want patients to have to spend
a lot of time looking around for treatment. This is truly a ‘one-stop-shop.’ Once they come here, everything else will be taken care of, from testing and diagnosis to every type of treatment. We can even refer them to other physicians with expertise in
HE CROHN’S &Colitis Foundation of America estimates that 1.5 million Americans — about 13 out of 100,000 people — suffer
PHOTO © JOE SMITHBERGER, SMITHBERGER PHOTOGRAPHY, NORTH CANTON
