Dr Kevin Barrett talks about Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) for Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week

By Shu Hui Leow 




​It is Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness week!
 
Yesterday, Dr Kevin Barrett delivered an engaging and relevant talk about Irritable Bowel Diseases (IBD) at the Clinical School, offering a unique perspective on IBD as clinician, patient, and champion for better care. The talk was pitched to students in their first and second clinical years, covering history, atypical presentations, diagnosis and management of IBD with humour and candour. Dr Barrett shared his personal experiences living with IBD and his work as IBD champion. He highlighted how IBD impacts every aspect of a person’s life and permeates all areas in medicine, from systemic manifestations to medication and logistical concerns. He also provided insight into how IBD symptoms can interfere with normal day-to-day life, that we as clinicians may not think of, such as requiring easy access to a toilet at work. In addition, Dr Barrett addressed the entrenched belief that smoking protects against Ulcerative Colitis – a recent study1 shows that this oft-quoted relationship has no evidence basis.
 
Many thanks to Dr Barrett for providing his specialist and expert view on IBD!
 
About Dr Kevin Barrett:
Dr Barrett is a General Practitioner in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire and former Clinical Lead for Gastroenterology and Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group (HVCCG). His first medical job was in Gastroenterology and he has maintained an interest in this area since becoming a GP. He is currently clinical champion for the Royal College of GPs and Crohns and Colitis UK’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease spotlight project, as well as Chair for the Primary Care Society of Gastroenterology. He was diagnosed with undeterminable IBD in 2005.
 
This talk was co-hosted by Cambridge University GPs Society and Cambridge University Gastroenterology and Hepatology Society. Huge thanks to Adelaide from Cambridge GPSoc and CU Gastro Soc for making this happen and providing delicious snacks!
 
1 Blackwell, J., Saxena, S., Alexakis, C., Bottle, A., Cecil, E., Majeed, A., & Pollok, R. C. (2019). The impact of smoking and smoking cessation on disease outcomes in ulcerative colitis: a nationwide population-based study. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 50(5), 556–567. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.15390

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