With discoveries such as this, is one of the many reasons I tell people to avoid surgery. I pray this new discovery is the magic pill for all those who still have their colon and are stuck with this annoying disease:

United States health regulators on Tuesday approved a drug from Takeda Pharmaceutical of Japan to treat the chronic debilitating inflammatory diseases ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease.

The Food and Drug Administration said it had approved the drug, vedolizumab, which will be sold under the brand name Entyvio, for patients who failed to gain adequate relief from one or more current standard treatments.

Although there is no cure for these conditions, todays approval provides an important new treatment option for patients who have had an inadequate response to conventional therapy to help control their symptoms, said Amy Egan of the F.D.A.

The injected biotech drug, from a class known as integrin receptor agonists, works by blocking circulating inflammatory cells from reaching areas of inflammation in the digestive tract.

Ulcerative colitis, which affects about 620,000 Americans, causes inflammation and ulcers in the inner lining of the large intestine that can lead to abdominal pain, gastrointestinal bleeding and diarrhea.

Crohns, affecting more than half a million Americans, can cause inflammation, swelling and irritation of any part of the digestive tract.

The most serious risks associated with Entyvio include serious infections, hypersensitivity and infusion-related reactions and liver toxicity, the agency said.