Patients with ulcerative colitis can be treated effectively with a class of medications called thiopurines . But taking these medications over a long period of time can have some negative effects.

In patients with celiac disease, the immune system attacks the patient's own body and causes damage to the lining of the gut. The disease has been linked to a higher risk of lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

For the first time, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials have given the green light to an umbilical cord blood product that could be used in stem cell transplants for patients with blood cancer, or metabolic or immune disorders.