poopydoop said...
That's true, but 12 weeks isn't very long either. True healing can take months. That is really the limitation of clinical trials (or one of the limitations). On xeljanz I took 16 weeks to reach endoscopic remission. Histologic remission (normal biopsies) takes even longer.... in fact my doctor said 90% of patient in clinical/endoscopic remission will still show microscopic inflammation on a biopsy.
I have a J-pouch and my GI said that ALL j-pouches show microscopic inflammation even with no symptoms. He mentioned this to me when he said how great my J-pouch looked during the last scope. I have pouchitis and when untreated it develops ulcers. Treated with Stelara I had some of the least microscopic inflammation that he'd ever seen in any j-pouch.
His biggest gauge is how do his patients feel - blood work and scopes are helpful but they're not the most important factor.