Medication during a relapse of Crohn's disease
For severe relapses kommen
Steroids or
Glucocorticoids are used, for example the active substances prednisolone or budesonide. They suppress violent inflammatory processes. These drugs should not be taken by patients with Crohn's disease for long periods of time and only in acute relapses.
In the case of a very severe course doctors prescribe supplementary or instead of steroids drugs that change the immune system. Infliximab and Adalimumab, for example, are
Tumor Necrosis Factor α Antibodies (TNF antibodies). They block mechanisms in the immune system and thus interrupt the signalling chain. Specifically, they block the inflammatory substance TNF, which can appear in the intestinal wall in Crohn's disease and
ulcerative colitis. Due to the severe intervention in the immune system, these drugs are only used in very severe cases or when other drugs do not help sufficiently.