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I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 2008 soon after graduating college – a time when I was looking forward to working in the real world and living life to the fullest! I believe this terrible disease in me was kick started by a compromised gut due to a bad case of food poisoning from meat or dairy in combination with stress.

Symptoms often include severe - excruciating - mind numbing - agonizing - intense - raging twisting and cramping abdominal pain, along with spasms, constant soreness & inflammation, aphthous ulcers, granulomas, bleeding, fissures, fistulas, strictures, fatigue, weight loss, muscle wasting, weakness, memory loss, brain fog, depression, joint pain, insomnia, leaky gut, allergies, anemia, diarrhea, mucous, bloody stools, and often the inability to eat any solid food. That's just the start of my journey, it's been a bumpy and painful ride. A visit to my gastroenterologist, confirmed that doctors do not understand the cause of this disease and it would most likely be an illness I would have to deal with for the rest of my life.

I have put my body through every kind of test possible from colonoscopies, sigmoidoscopies, and ultrasounds to CT scans, MRI's and most recently a capsule endoscopy all confirming possible Crohn's Disease. Doctors say that there is no known cause or cure for this disease and only drugs can help manage the symptoms of Crohn's. This disease literally puts your life on hold and I have been battling it for the last seven years. It's really hard to notice when a person is going through it from the outside but one truly suffers silently.

I have been on combinations of anti-inflammatory drugs such as Pentasa, antibiotics like Ciprofloxacin, and steroids such as Prednisone & Budesonide – all which come with a long list of intense side effects, one that even landed me in the ER with severe bleeding in 2008. After this blood loss, my haemoglobin level dropped from 13 to 10 by a single bowel movement. The only other option that doctors would often keep referring me to was a biologic called Humira. This would suppress my immune system including the possibility of developing Cancer or Tuberculosis at a later stage. The answer was easy – I said NO.

I am now 29, 5 7' and weigh just 100 lbs. I have been praying, doing my own research, and trying several natural therapies that God has guided me to help manage my Crohn's without the horrible side effects of conventional medicines currently on the market. Natural remedies such as Wild Oregano Oil (WOO), an elemental diet, probiotics, and homeopathic remedies help me stay in remission and prevent painful flare-ups. Pulsed Electro Magnetic Therapy (PEMF) is also helping me to target & kill bacteria hidden deep within my tissues and lymph nodes.

I believe Crohn's is not an auto-immune disease but a systemic infection caused by atypical mycobacteria specifically MAP. I am currently on Anti-MAP antibiotics which I started in 2015 and am symptom free most of the time.

The good news is . . . there is a possible CURE FOR CROHN’S!

Sadly, while this is often not shared openly with the public – a Crohn's MAP vaccine is currently sitting in the freezer at King's College in London developed by Dr. Hermon-Taylor and his team and is ready to move to the clinical trial phase. So friends, that's where you come in! The team at King's College need the help of donors like us to help make this dream of curing Crohn’s Disease for thousands who suffer from it become a reality today. The end is now in sight and I can’t wait to experience good health soon!

MAP Vaccine Clinical Diagnostic Test Trial - £485,000 ($745,000)

Track our progress here:

https://www.justgiving.com/teams/crohnsmapvaccineheroes

How Funds Are Spent

The Crohn’s MAP Vaccine team are all volunteers so there are no overheads and the charity administration costs are met by the University. All money therefore goes directly to the research team at King’s College London and is used to pay for staff salaries or laboratory materials.

It costs approximately $10,000 per month to conduct the research needed to get the Crohn’s MAP Vaccine to clinical trials. This money is spent on:

• Research scientist’s salary
• Open access to core scientific facilities such as super-resolution microscopy, advanced laser-capture microdissection, flow cytometry, proteomics and genomics and advanced image analysis software
• Reagent and laboratory consumables

http://crohnsmapvaccine.com/about/contact-2/

The vaccine has been successful in treating Crohn's in animal studies.  However, this information is not covered by media, charities, big pharma or organizations like Crohn's Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). In fact, I passed on the information to CCFA and other charities but did not receive any reply or acknowledgement.

Crohn's disease affects about 3.2 per 1,000 people in Europe and North America. The increase in the number of Crohn's cases in U.S. and particularly the west is staggering. Our cattle and dairy are infected with MAP and those genetically susceptible end up with Crohn's. It is less common in Asia and Africa. Currently, there is no known cure for Crohn's. It has historically been more common in the developed world. Rates have; however, been increasing particularly in the developing world since the 1970s. Inflammatory bowel disease resulted in 35,000 deaths in 2010 and those with Crohn's disease have a slightly reduced life expectancy. Many people end up needing to go through surgery to have parts of their intestines removed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crohn's_disease

What is Crohn's Disease?

Crohn’s Disease is a debilitating and aggressive form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. It affects an estimated 4 million worldwide, including 1.2 million in the USA and around 250,000 in the UK – and numbers are increasing, especially in children.

Symptoms include severe abdominal pain, weight loss, bloody diarrhoea and chronic fatigue. Up to 80% of patients will need surgery at some point in their lifetime. The lives of most sufferers are blighted by multiple hospitalisations, surgeries, and immuno-suppressive therapies, which may have nasty side effects. As a result many people have difficulty holding down a job or attending school.

Although currently there is no acknowledged cure for Crohn’s, we believe there is compelling evidence pointing to MAP as the cause of Crohn’s Disease.

What is MAP?

MAP is proven to cause Johne’s Disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease affecting domestic livestock, which is strikingly similar to Crohn’s Disease.

MAP is a type of bacteria: Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). It belongs to a family of bacteria called ‘Mycobacteria’.

The New MAP Test

Historically, MAP in humans has been difficult to study as it cannot be seen under an ordinary microscope and is very difficult to grow. Testing for MAP by the presence of its DNA (using PCR) has found MAP in up to 92% of Crohn’s patients but until now no-one has developed a test to show MAP in-situ in the tissues of people with Crohn’s disease. With the new MAP test developed by Prof. Hermon-Taylor, we are seeing it in intricate detail for the very first time.

The test is an essential ‘companion diagnostic’ for the Vaccine trial; a simple blood test allowing doctors to confirm MAP infection prior to vaccination and monitor patients’ responses to the vaccine. The completion of this final piece of the puzzle is currently underway at King’s College London and requires around $600,000 in funding.

The Crohn’s MAP Vaccine

A modern therapeutic Vaccine against MAP has been created. Preliminary studies in animals have shown it to be safe and effective. Next, a trial in humans is needed to take the vaccine from lab to clinic.

Learn More At:

http://crohnsmapvaccine.com/
https://www.facebook.com/crohnsmapvaccine
https://www.facebook.com/CrohnsMAPVaccineHeroes

It's time to end Crohn's! There is Hope.