<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Queensland researchers are looking to harness a luxury seafood in their mission to treat a chronic gut disease impacting tens of thousands of Australians.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ulcerative colitis, along with Crohn's, comes under the umbrella term inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and involves the immune system attacking healthy cells in the bowel, leading to pain, fatigue and digestive issues.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More than 100,000 people are diagnosed with IBD in Australia — one of the highest rates in the world. </span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-adass-israel-synagogue-firebombinb-investigation-update/6884ec23-eadf-4426-969b-e41bea616e2e" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Police reveal key link, images of suspects in synagogue arson attack</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It is usually treated with drugs, but now, scientists at the Translational Research Institute in Brisbane are looking for a new and more natural solution derived from abalone.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"So far, what we've found is that when you look at a whole extract of the animal, it seems to have an anti-inflammatory effect," the Translational Research Institute's Jakob Begun said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The researchers have experimented with the idea on mice and found it is about 50 per cent effective in controlling inflammation. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/abalone-could-be-used-to-treat-ulcerative-colitis-affecting-100000-australians/2bc35d67-470f-44bc-acbc-6ae4eb976fb5" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Which is actually very comparable to some of the drugs that are used in today's treatment algorithms," Begun said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The positive results offer a sign of hope for people like 60-year-old Paul McLachlan, whose world was thrown off balance after he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It completely and utterly debilitated you because it just throws your entire sort of work day into chaos," he said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/greens-leader-larissa-waters/fd79a844-d3fb-4df4-bb2d-4cb0ae4529d3" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Greens choose Larissa Waters as leader to replace Adam Bandt</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I found myself starving myself, I became a really big customer of Gastrostop."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>McLachlan is now in remission thanks to drug treatments, but those can come with side effects.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Sometimes the treatment you're on stops working, so you're always really interested in what's new and what's not invasive, and the natural treatments are very desirable to me," McLachlan said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Scientists are also looking to use the off-cuts of the abalone, as it has been found to have anti-inflammatory properties.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Researchers said they hope to turn the food waste into medicine, saving the scraps from a $250 million industry.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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