What to know
- A mysterious pink figure named Flammy has been spotted around Toronto as part of a campaign by Sinai Health Foundation.
- The campaign aims to raise awareness about chronic inflammation, which is linked to several chronic illnesses, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
- Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are two forms of IBD that affect approximately one per cent of Canada’s population.
- Crohn’s and Colitis Canada is launching a national precision medicine research initiative to help develop more personalized approaches to diagnosing and treating IBD.
- Both organizations are encouraging donations to support research and improve care for people living with chronic inflammation and IBD.
November is Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Month and two organizations are finding innovative ways to build recognition and inspire support.
If you walked downtown Toronto or went online anytime in the last few weeks, chances are you’ve come across this large, grumpy-looking pink figure that puzzled Torontonians around Halloween.
Turns out, the mysterious figure’s name is Flammy, and he’s behind an important awareness campaign on chronic inflammation.
The campaign, led by Sinai Health Foundation, aims to bring Canadians’ attention to chronic inflammation to spread awareness about the condition behind several chronic illnesses, and encourage donations.
“The Canadian public doesn’t understand [chronic inflammation] very well. So, we wanted to sort of create a personality around it, and thus the notion of Flammy,” Louis de Melo, President and CEO of Sinai Health Foundation, told Now Toronto.
“The whole idea was to get the conversation going, and to bring to the public a very complex and actually a very serious issue. Let’s have a dialogue. Let’s better understand and let’s raise awareness about chronic inflammation… and based on the reaction of the public, I do believe that has worked.”
In fact, Flammy was everywhere last week, getting about 40 million impressions in his first two weeks of appearance, according to de Melo. With the campaign’s success, Sinai is hoping to invest in its innovative research that is hoping to identify ways to predict and prevent the disease before symptoms appear.
What is chronic inflammation and IBD?
The term inflammation refers to how the body reacts to an injury. If you get a burn or a cut, the area may become inflamed and bleed or become very red, but it will then slowly heal or form a scar.
Dr. Ken Croitoru, a gastroenterologist and Canada Research Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at Sinai, explains that chronic inflammation happens when the injured area doesn’t heal, and it could happen not only in our skin, but in any parts of the body and is linked to several diseases, including several forms of cancer and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
“Inflammation are all those cells and other things that come into an area that’s been damaged, and it could be the skin, it could be the heart, it could be the gut, it could be the joints, it could be any part of the body,” he explained.
“When it’s an acute event, let’s say pneumonia, you get rid of the pneumonia, things resolve, you heal, you do well. But if it’s one of these diseases where we’re not sure what caused the inflammation, and the inflammation doesn’t stop, then we talk about chronic inflammation,” he said, adding that if untreated, the inflammation can then lead to several health complications.
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are two forms of IBD, closely linked to chronic inflammation, according to the doctor. These diseases are also some of the most prevalent types of chronic inflammation in Canada, affecting about one in 350 residents or one per cent of the population.
“It’s not a small problem, and it affects people at a very young age… and to have a chronic disease that impairs their ability to study or work is a serious problem,” he added.
Signs and symptoms of IBD include:
- Abdominal pain
- Diarrhea, which could be severe and also contain blood
- Rectal bleeding
- Nausea and vomiting
- Appetite and weight loss
- Gas and bloating
- Anemia
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Sores in the mouth and anus
Living with IBD
Sarah Levitt, a patient ambassador at Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, was first diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at only three years old, and later received an additional diagnosis of Crohn’s disease at 11. But being diagnosed earlier on didn’t mean an easy diagnosis and ideal lifestyle.
“It was a lot of trial and error when it came to treatments and just figuring out how to control the condition,” she told Now Toronto. “Between the ages of 11 to 13, from 2006 to 2008, were the roughest periods of my illness. I was in and out of the hospital. I was [taking a] cocktail of medication… My body was not responding to anything.”
At 13, Levitt was able to receive emergency ostomy surgery, a procedure that creates a small opening at the abdomen to let waste or urine leave the body. Although the procedure helped significantly improve her quality of life, it isn’t a permanent cure. Living with IBD means she still needs to constantly take medication, adapt her lifestyle, and find ways to control her symptoms. She has also had five other surgeries since then.
“We fear food and fear eating, and so much of it is associated with gut health and all of that. And besides the stomach pains and diarrhea, you can have skin conditions, you can have liver conditions, you can have so much that gets affected by long-term medication… There’s so many different ways it affects the body,” she explains.
“It’s not just multiple trips to the bathroom. It really can affect so many different touchpoints in your life. Even going to work and having to take time off for appointments and having to explain this to a boss or to peers or to friends… It’s really every single aspect of your life it can affect.”
It’s about time campaign
With Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Month taking place in November, Sinai is not the only organization hoping to spread awareness and inspire change.
On Friday, Crohn’s and Colitis Canada is launching It’s about time, a campaign featuring the launch of the country’s first national research initiative dedicated to precision medicine for IBD.
The IBD Precision Medicine Research Program brings together health-care professionals and researchers to develop tools to make diagnosing, monitoring and treating IBD easier, and ultimately looking at prevention.
“Time and time again, patients across the country that live with inflammatory bowel disease are kind of painted with this one-size-fits-all approach… The idea with the campaign for precision medicine is that we want to really encourage researchers and clinicians to start viewing patients as individuals and having more personalized, precise medicine for those living with IBD,” Engagement Marketing Specialist and patient with Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, Darrah Horobetz said.
For patients like Horobetz and Levitt, a more personalized approach could mean faster diagnoses and less time looking for treatments, and more time to enjoy their lives.
“I’m excited for the community as a whole… I really believe it could mean finding the right treatment sooner. Reducing flares, avoiding flares, and just hoping for that better quality of life that everybody is always just searching for,” Levitt said.
‘Support is critical’: organizations call for donations on awareness month
With awareness month taking place, both the Sinai Health Foundation and Crohn’s and Colitis Canada are now calling on donations to support their innovative research that could help improve the lives of thousands of patients living with IBD in Canada.
While Flammy’s grumpy figure was meant to inspire curiosity and conversation around IBD, Sinai hopes to also inspire people to support new research by donating.
“The support is critical, and it doesn’t have to be a big amount. Any amount actually makes a difference [as well as] having people engage in the conversation,” de Melo said.
Those who wish to donate to Sinai’s research program can head to its website, where they can select any chosen amount for a one-time, monthly, or annual donation.
Meanwhile, Crohn’s and Colitis Canada’s campaign hopes to spread awareness and inspire caregivers and researchers across the country to search for individualized solutions for patients. The organization also welcomes donations to invest in more research programs, also accepting contributions on its website.
“We shouldn’t have to do this campaign. It should have already been happening. Individualized care should be a thing that everyone is entitled to, not just in Canada, but around the world as well, so it is about time to make things happen,” Horobetz added.
