Comments on: Marc Jacobs has UC

By: Nikita

Nikita — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:12:28 +0000

Eric,
I actually got UC when I gave up smoking when I was in my early thirties a few years ago. There is def a link with smoking and UC. I believe that if I never gave up smoking I would probably have not got UC (I was a heavy smoker). But I never started again as I would rather suffer UC anyday than the zillion cancers smoking causes. I think in all fairness to Marc Jacobs he is only trying to share what worked for him and thats all he knows. I think its important that we all share our different experiences. Evidence is starting to show through research that it is not one but numerous factors that can attribute to UC therefore the reason they are looking at so called ‘tailored treatment’ as there are many forms of UC alone.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:19:17 +0000

Reading through these posts as I edit some of the older ones, I’m just baffled at this portrayal. They seem to make no mention of how his father has the disease too and that there is a hereditary link. Plus, and I’m not in support of this, there has been research done that proves smoking actually helps Ulcerative Colitis.

By: Jenelle

Jenelle — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:29:48 +0000

I love it, Megan! We need to teach Marc Jacobs who can then teach the world!

By: Megan

Megan — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:42:04 +0000

Jenelle,

I totally agree with you that the portrayl of his disease – both the reason how he got UC and how he is treating it now – may not be accurate. And that is a shame b/c the Rolling Stone article made it sound like he had UC from eating bad, etc…and then it says that he died from UC related complications.

I found this article as a catch 22 b/c I was happy someone public was talking about it in a magazine, then I was disappointed by the way it was spoken about. Well, maybe Marc Jacobs will read our blog and learn more about the scientific causes and treatments for UC and then he can become a good spokesperson

Megan

By: Jenelle

Jenelle — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:21:46 +0000

I think it’s great that there is a public figure to put a face to the disease. The only other case I have read of is a much less famous person, but there is a member of the Edmonton Oilers hockey team that has put some of his experiences out there.

I am somewhat concerned about the Marc Jacobs information so far. I take issue with both the promotion of “naturally healthy” products that have not been shown to actually have a positive effect on health (such as gogi juice) and the implications that both his bad habits caused his UC and that his now healthier lifestyle has improved it. There is a definite danger that people will attempt to treat themselves with “natural” products and not take the prescribed medications that have been proven to help. There is no doubt that everyone with UC would rather NOT take the medications prescribed but leaving UC untreated can result in serious consequences (take it from me, bowel perforations are seriously traumatic!). I also think there is a potential for blame to be placed on the victim here. UC is not caused by an unhealthy lifestyle and we don’t want people being blamed for their illnesses.