#auguts hard to talk about
Eric experienced sepsis after diverticular disease caused his bowel to rupture. He spoke to Dr Madusha Peiris, a researcher from Queen Mary University of London, about their experiences living with bowel disease and working within the field.
Eric Douglin was diagnosed with diverticulitis two years ago, leading to his bowel rupturing and developing sepsis. In this emergency situation, he underwent surgery to have a stoma created and was told he would have died within twelve hours had it been left any later.
Dr Madusha Peiris is a Lecturer in Neuroscience at Queen Mary University of London. Her research centres on how the nervous system in the gut controls digestive function and the ways it is impacted by the environment. This includes work on appetite regulation and how pain is sensed within the gut.
On his work with Bowel Research UK, Eric says: “Without the work Bowel Research UK funds I would not be here today to share my journey with other people.”
Madusha talks about the importance of inclusive research: “We try really hard to get a whole range of people into our studies, so men and women, people from different ethnic backgrounds because the more we have a diverse background of people, the better it is in terms of getting data that is applicable to everybody rather than a single population.”
Read more about Dr Peiris’ work here:
www.bowelresearchuk.org/research-hub/nutrient-sensing-and-obesity/
www.bowelresearchuk.org/latest-news/lower-bowel-holds-secret-to-weight-loss-new-research-reveals/
Watch Eric and Madusha discuss the difficulties of talking about health issues within the Black community and the importance of conducting research that includes people of different genders and from different ethnic backgrounds.
You could help our researchers make the breakthroughs that leads to life-saving and life-changing treatments.
Donate nowWe’re highlighting topics that are difficult to talk about and research that’s hard to fund. Read and watch stories from bowel cancer and bowel disease patients and researchers.
I was born 8 weeks premature with Intestinal Malrotation. My understanding is they weren’t sure what was causing me the pain as a newborn, being premature too. When surgery was eventually done it was found my bowels had twisted. Corrective surgery was done. I was christened in the hospital as it wasn’t looking great.
I have diverticular disease on the right side of my body and I believe only a few people have it on this side.
Mr Frank McDermott is a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon and Cancer lead for the Genomics Medicine Service Alliance in Southwest England. His grant with Bowel Research UK why some patients with diverticulitis experience serious complications such as blood infection, while others have milder disease.
Join the #auguts campaign by sharing your own story via video or the written word! We are looking for videos and stories about difficult conversations people have had about their bowel condition, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, or anything else related. Our Patient and Public Involvement Manager Sam Alexandra Rose has created her own video as an example, which you can see below to give you some ideas.
Your video or written story will appear on our website and be shared on our social media channels. Please include your social media handles if you feel comfortable with us tagging you when we share your story. Videos may be edited slightly, for example by adding captions or putting several videos together, or adding our logo. Take a look at this guide for some tips on filming video on your phone. If you have any questions, email sam@bowelresearchuk.org.
We brought some of our patients, researchers and our CEO together to talk about what makes bowel disease hard to talk about and hard to fund. Watch them share their stories and join the campaign.
Watch the video