Jordyn Shapiro
At the age of 12, Jordyn Shapiro was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Her symptoms were chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating, gas attacks, vomiting, fevers, skin rashes, anemia and indolent sores in her mouth. She had lost 30 pounds in 6 months and had stopped growing resulting in a 2-year growth delay as well as a failure of normal teeth development.
At the beginning of treatment, she was prescribed steroids and chemotherapy medication that she willingly took for one year, despite the fact that she showed no improvement at all. Her condition worsened, and, to make matters worse, her hair began to fall out. She had missed 60 days of school and was now becoming reclusive.
Jordyn had been admitted to the hospital several times for dehydration and after her last hospitalization she was recommended to a clinical nutritionist, Dr. Melvyn Grovit. Dr. Grovit was keenly aware of Jordyn’s plight, as he himself had experienced the ravages of Crohn’s disease as a child. Dr. Grovit had developed a nutrition protocol over the past 30 years and introduced it to Jordyn. Dr. Grovit then teamed up with Dr. Alfred Slonim, Jordyn’s endocrinologist, who had also been working with Crohn’s disease patients from a growth factor perspective . Together, they forged a team approach to Jordyn’s medical nutrition and growth factor needs. The nutrition protocol was easy to follow and is tailored to the individual’s needs and personal food idiosyncrasies. After beginning the diet and nutraceuticals,, Jordyn gained 8 pounds in 10 days , became energetic again and began to rapidly return to her happy self. Her orthodontist could not believe what he was seeing as all of Jordyn’s missing teeth spontaneously came in after several weeks on the nutrition protocol. On the nutrition protocol alone, Jordyn grew 5 inches in the first year. In the second year, Dr. Slonim felt that her growth chart reflected a plateau and it was now time to introduce growth factor therapy in conjunction with the nutrition protocol. After a few days on the growth factor therapy, Jordyn noticed even more energy and an increased sense of well-being. In that second year she grew an additional 4.5 inches.
Jordyn is now 20 years old, gained 30 lbs and grew 10 inches. She is a sophmore at NYIT University majoring in Art & Computer Graphics. She is a 2007 recipient of the UCB Crohns $10,000 scholarship (http://www.crohnsandme.com/thescoop/scholarship/2007recipients.asp),
for her academic achievements and perseverance through her disease. Jordyn is a spokesperson for UCB to help educate people about Crohns disease.
Drs. Slonim and Grovit have joined forces to study and advance the role of medical nutrition and growth factor therapies in children with inflammatory bowel disease. Their goal is to present a pilot study of their work to the medical community and offer families vital and complimentary “missing links” in living and succeeding with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
The Foundation for Nutrition and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in Children, Inc. (IBD) was formed to raise awareness and foster further research in nutrition and growth factor interventions currently available to patients with IBD.
If you would like further information regarding this research please contact the NIBD via email @ nibdinkids@aol.com or www.nibdinkids.com
