Hi, my sister has ulcerative colitis and she is on asacol (mesalamine) what is the effect of the asacol (mesalamine)? and can it prevent the relapse of the disease?

A treatment for U.C.: Asacol (mesalamine) is shown to reduce the symptoms associated with moderately active ulcerative colitis flare-ups. Asacol provides symptom relief (such as improvements regarding rectal bleeding and stool frequency). It is used both to treat symptoms and to prevent symptoms from coming back.

No one knows: how this drug does its work but its related to certain sulfa based drugs (antibiotics) which were empirically fund to be beneficial! Yes it does prevent relapses in a certain percentage of cases! Hope this helps! Dr Z