What is Crohn’s Disease
Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus. Signs and symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, and weight loss. Other complications may occur outside the gastrointestinal tract and include anemia, skin rashes, arthritis, inflammation of the eye, and tiredness. The skin rashes may be due to infections as well as pyoderma gangrenosum or erythema nodosum. Bowel obstruction may occur as a complication of chronic inflammation, and those with the disease are at greater risk of bowel cancer.
While the cause of Crohn’s disease is unknown, it is believed to be due to a combination of environmental, immune, and bacterial factors in genetically susceptible individuals. It results in a chronic inflammatory disorder, in which the body’s immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract possibly directed at microbial antigens. While Crohn’s is an immune-related disease, it does not appear to be an autoimmune disease (in that the immune system is not being triggered by the body itself). The exact underlying immune problem is not clear; however, it may be an immunodeficiency state. About half of the overall risk is related to genetics with more than 70 genes found to be involved. Tobacco smokers are twice as likely to develop Crohn’s disease as nonsmokers. It also often begins after gastroenteritis. Diagnosis is based on a number of findings including biopsy and appearance of the bowel wall, medical imaging and description of the disease. Other conditions that can present similarly include irritable bowel syndrome and Behçet’s disease.
- Diarrhea
- Stomach pain
- Weight loss
- Bleeding from your rectum
- Constipation
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Fever
- Sudden and frequent need to go to the bathroom
- Painful tears called fissures in the lining of the anus, mostly during bowel movements
- Fistulas (passages that form between loops of the intestine, or between the intestines and the vagina, skin, or bladder)
- Thickening of intestine walls, which makes it hard for food and waste to move
- A partly or totally blocked intestine, for which you would need medical care right away
- Open sores called ulcers in the intestines, mouth, or anus
- Malnutrition, as your body is not able to absorb enough nutrients from food
- Pain, swelling, and burning in other parts of your body, such as your skin, eyes, or joints
As many as 700,000 Americans have the disease. Although there’s no cure, there are treatments to manage it.
Crohn’s disease is often confused with another condition called ulcerative colitis. The symptoms are similar, and both involve periods of active flare-ups, followed by times when you don’t have symptoms, which is called remission.
The only way to find out if you have Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis is to see your doctor for tests.
There is no cure for Crohn’s disease. The goals for treatment are:
- reduce inflammation
- relieve symptoms of pain, diarrhea, and bleeding
- eliminate nutritional deficiencies
Treatment might involve drugs, nutritional supplements, surgery, or a combination of these therapies. Treatment choices depend upon where the disease is located and how severe it is. They also depend on the complications associated with the disease and the way the person has responded in the past to treatment when symptoms recurred.
There are many support groups helping many people with Crohn’s and the best way we have found to find them is to visit the Crohns Colitis Foundation link below.
www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/living-with-crohns-colitis/find-a-support-group
