Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada

About the Foundation

• The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada (CCFC) is a voluntary, not-for-profit, medical research foundation dedicated to finding the cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, commonly referred to as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
• To achieve its mission, the Foundation is committed to raising funds for medical research.
• Education is also a part of its mandate. The Foundation provides information on IBD to patients, their families, health professionals and the general public through education brochures, its national member publication The Journal, local education events and the CCFC web site at www.ccfc.ca.
• The CCFC was started in 1974 by a group of concerned parents who saw the need to raise funds for research into IBD and to educate patients and their families about these diseases.
• The CCFC has more then 65,000 supporters and includes members in some 90 local volunteer groups across Canada.
• The key to the CCFC’s success is the interest and work of thousands of volunteers across the country. This network of highly organized volunteers participate in numerous fundraising initiatives throughout the year including national programs such as M&M Meat Shops Charity BBQ Day and the Heel ‘n’ Wheel-a-Thon.

About Inflammatory Bowel Disease

• Inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, describes two similar yet distinct conditions called Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
• These diseases affect the digestive system and cause the intestinal tissue to become inflamed, form sores and bleed easily. Symptoms include abdominal pain, cramping, fatigue anddiarrhea.
• Crohn’s Disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the anus. Patches of inflammation occur, with healthy tissue between the diseased areas. The inflammation can extend through every layer of affected bowel tissue. Crohn’s disease cannot be cured by drugs or surgery, although either or both can help relieve symptoms.
• Ulcerative colitis affects only the inner layer of the colon, or large bowel. It always starts in the rectum and may extend as a continuous inflammation from there into the rest of the colon.  The disease can be completely eliminated by surgically removing the colon, but afterwards, waste material may have to be stored and expelled through an external appliance.
• There is no known cause or cure for IBD.
• Approximately 170,000 Canadian men, women and children suffer from IBD.
• People are most frequently diagnosed between the ages of 15-25, or 45-55.
• IBD is unpredictable. Most people experience periods of remission and flare-ups of the disease, often requiring long-term medication, hospitalization or surgery.
• Although IBD is found throughout the world, it seems to be more common in North America and northern Europe. Canada has the highest incidence rate of Crohn’s disease in the world, and the incidence of ulcerative colitis is also among the highest.
  

About CCFC Research Programs

• Medical research is simply the best hope for finding a cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
• To date, the CCFC has invested more than $42 million in major medical research projects, the training of research personnel, the establishment of two world-class intestinal research units (McMaster University and the University of Calgary) along with the establishment of a CCFC Chair of Intestinal Disease Research at the University of Calgary.
• In 2000, the Canadian IBD Network Tissue Bank was established.  The first of its kind in Canada, the Tissue Bank continues to be an invaluable resource for researchers.  
• In 2005-2006, CCFC invested $5.2 million in new and ongoing research, the largest sum ever.  
• In 2003, the CCFC embarked on an innovative initiative with the creation of the IBD Research Institute – a major expansion in its research that will allow studies from all angles of the disease.
• In 2000, the CCFC IBD Research Scientist Award was established. The award provides up to five years of funding to Canadian university-based investigators to conduct world-class IBD research projects on an ongoing basis, mentor junior investigators and develop more IBD research at his/her host university.
• The CCFC IBD Network, launched in 1998, is one of the Foundation’s most aggressive ongoing research initiatives.  It links researchers, community physicians and patients across Canada in clinical investigations of the causes, development and treatment of IBD. The Network has facilitated the creation of an IBD tissue bank for distribution of biological materials to researchers across the country, and a national patient database and registry to assess incidence and epidemiological patterns.
• Thanks to the significant research investment made by the CCFC, much more is now known about the fundamental biology of the intestine. It is much more complicated and integrated than people would have anticipated 10-15 years ago.

For more information on the CCFC, visit www.ccfc.ca.

For more information, please contact Lynn Kobayashi at the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada. 
Tel: 416-920-5035 ext. 26; Fax: (416) 920-2067;  Email: lkobayashi@ccfc.ca