Straight from the Gut

In recent years, patients of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center's Gastroenterology Institute have come to look forward to the annual meeting, which provides information about chronic diseases of the bowel - Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, diseases the patients are forced to live with during occasional flare ups and periods of remission, although it never disappears.

"This population of patients," said Clinical Asst. Prof. Yael Kopelman, Director of the HYMC Gastroenterology Institute, "is made up of people our staff gets to know well - professionally and personally, due to the nature of their disease that requires attention over time. That is why we have a tradition of the annual group meeting, designed to create a support group and serve as a platform for providing updates on the disease and giving patients additional tools to deal with its complexity."

As previously stated, the annual meeting was held once again this year and organized by the staff of Hillel Yaffe Medical Center's Gastroenterology Institute.

The meeting, which was very well received by the patients, opened with greetings by Dr. Mickey Dudkiewicz, HYMC Deputy Director, and Clinical Asst. Prof. Yael Kopelman. They were followed by Mrs. Sylvie Omer, Chairperson of the Israel Foundation for Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, who spoke about the support and contribution of the Foundation and how they can be contacted.

Then, there were two lectures - one by Dr. Baruch Ovadia, a senior physician and coordinator for service to patients with inflammatory bowel disease at the institute. Dr. Ovadia provided a comprehensive review of the current drugs available for treatment and those to be available in the future. The second lecture, titled "Health in emotion: The relationship between emotional digestion and physical digestion," was given by Zen Master Nissim Amon. In his lecture, Master Amon described the wisdom of the East on the connection between physical and emotional health, as reflected in the conflicts between mind and soul.

At the end of the meeting, Clinical Asst. Prof. Kopelman and her staff thanked the participants for coming to the meeting despite the winter weather and promised to continue the tradition in the same format and with other issues of interest related to these diseases in the future as well.

Clinical Asst. Prof. Yael Kopelman at the opening of the meeting. Photo: Tzion Yechezkel