Crohns Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease or IBD is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestines. Its major types are the Crohns disease and Ulcerative colitis. It is an ongoing inflammation in one’s digestive tract.

Crohns disease is also known as regional enteritis, it affect the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus. Crohns disease is caused interactions between environmental, immunological and bacterial factors.  This causes for some chronic inflammatory problems, it results the immune system to attack our gastrointestinal tract.

Patient can feel pain and the condition that the intestines is empty frequently that results to diarrhea.

Crohns disease affects women and men in the age between 13 years old-30 years old. Smokers’ women or men have the chance to have Crohns disease than the non smokers.  Jewish people have a high risk of having the disease. In Africa they are the least risk to have Crohns disease.

Crohns disease is very difficult to detect. Other symptoms occur with other gastrointestinal disorders. Having test to detect Crohns takes a lot of questioning because it’s important for the diagnosis of the disease. Your health care provider is going to conduct some interviews, about your symptoms, medical problems you had in the past, if you undergo some surgeries too, medications you’re taking and some family history, your lifestyle and your habits.

 It gives symptoms like abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if its inflammation is at its worst), vomiting can be continuous, weight loss and there are some symptoms outside the gastrointestinal tract like the skin rashes, arthritis, eye inflammation, tiredness and lack of concentration. Its symptoms are same with IBS or Irritable Bowel Movements. Fever, weight loss, bloating, anal pain, skin lesions and joint pain are some basic signs of this disease.

Crohns disease also affects the other organs of the body. It affects the skin, blood and the intestines. Crohns disease can cause neurological complications such as headache, seizure, stroke, and depressions. Crohns patients also can have small bowel bacterial overgrowth syndrome.

Crohns disease can cause bowel problems.  Crohns disease can be a problem for pregnant mothers because there are medications by the medical doctors that can cause adverse for the fetus or the mother. Inflammation may make scar tissue that builds up inside the intestine to make stricture. A stricture is a narrowed passageway for the food that slowing the movement through the intestine that cause pain and cramps.

Treating Crohns disease is always start with medication. The truth is that there is “NO CURE” for this disease.  Other therapy and with one or more medications can treat the early stage of Crohns disease.  

There are also medications to relieve pain and symptoms. These are the common drugs prescribed by doctors are corticosteroids, like methyl prednisone, prednisone and other anti- inflammatory medicines.

In the late diagnosed of having Crohns disease, surgery is recommended. Surgery is necessary when complications occur. Complications such as blockage of the bowel, significant bleeding and perforation of the intestines needed surgery. Not all Crohns disease patients are recommended to undergo surgery. This decision is needed to be consulted to their attending physicians.