Helen Varney started fundraising for Crohn’s Disease research after a family member was diagnosed with the disease and she saw how it affected his quality of life.
Crohn’s Disease is characterised by inflammation of the intestines, causing severe abdominal pain, weight loss, bloody diarrhoea and chronic fatigue. There is no cure and sufferers have to take medication for the rest of their lives. The medications can have severe side effects and often patients are vulnerable to unpredictable flare ups of symptoms.
The disease affects 250,000 people in the UK and the incidence is rising, especially among children. However there is hope from researchers at King’s College, London who believe that there is compelling evidence that Crohn’s Disease is caused by a bacterium called MAP (Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis). They have produced a modern therapeutic vaccine against MAP and preliminary studies have shown it to be safe and effective. A charity has been set up to fund a human trial, necessary before the vaccine can be made available to Crohn’s patients –
www.crohnsmapvaccine.com. The charity is run by volunteers, which means all the money goes directly to fund the research.
Helen set up a JustGiving page www.justgiving/CrohnsFriendsMEN3936 and started fundraising. She was amazed at the response from family and friends. To date they have raised £2,500.
The first event for 2015 is a craft market at the Clarence Hall in Crickhowell on 11th April from 10am to 4pm with all proceeds to the charity. If you want to help please come to the event, or you can donate directly to Helen’s JustGiving page.
“A cure for Crohn’s would mean so much to the many sufferers of this debilitating disease,” says Helen. “They just want to live a normal active, sociable life instead of being limited by constant pain and fatigue.”
