A healthy gut for everyone in the Netherlands
Dutch Digestive Health Fund works toward a healthy gut for everyone. We do this by making scientific research possible, devising new solutions for care and providing reliable information.
Health starts in your gut
Your gut is the foundation of your health. Good digestion affects your whole body - from your energy to your immune system. So take good care of your gut and if you have complaints, take them seriously.
This is what Dutch Digestive Health Fund does for a healthy gut
As many as 4 million Dutch people visit their GP with gastrointestinal complaints every year. For all those people, we are committed to taking action in 2025. We make better treatment of chronic diseases possible. But also, early detection of life-threatening diseases such as intestinal, esophageal and pancreatic cancer. How? You can read about that in the text below.
Saving lives of the very young
Premature babies are at risk of severe inflammation, causing parts of the intestine to die. This so-called ‘Necrotising Enterocolitis’ (NEC) is the number one cause of death in premature babies: almost 1 in 3 babies with this infection dies within 24 hours. With NEC, the rule is; the earlier the diagnosis, the greater the chance of survival. Through a few simple tests, NEC can be detected in time. To this end, these tests are being studied in practice this year. This is with the aim of making these tests standard next year, in order to save the lives of the very young.
Tailored treatments for children with chronic pain
Every year, 300 children start to suffer from a chronic bowel disease: ‘inflammatory bowel disease’ (IBD). This is often Crohn’s disease. These children suffer from pain, fatigue and medication throughout their entire life. Adults with Crohn’s disease suffer less from these symptoms by using Methotrexate (MTX). A scientific study is developing tailored treatment so that children also benefit from this drug.
Research into carcinogenic toxins
Some bacteria in the intestinal system produce toxins that may cause colon cancer. But much is still unclear: how common are these toxins and do they really increase the risk of colon cancer? Only once we know how big this problem is, can we intervene properly. In the future, these toxins could possibly be an early predictor of colon cancer or methods may be developped to combat these toxins.
School toilets don’t pass muster too often
Nearly half of all schoolchildren almost never poop in school toilets. They prefer to hold their needs, because the school toilets are dirty. Shame, lack of privacy and school rules also play a role in this holding-up behaviour. ‘Those who regularly hold their stool can suffer from severe constipation. And that in turn can lead to incontinence, abdominal pain and nausea’, says paediatrician Marc Benninga of the Pediatric Abdominal Center at Amsterdam UMC. This year, too, we will continue our efforts to provide clean toilets at school that also offer privacy.