Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It causes inflammation of your digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. Inflammation caused by Crohn's disease can involve different areas of the digestive tract in different people.

The inflammation caused by Crohn's disease often spreads deep into the layers of affected bowel tissue. Crohn's disease can be both painful and debilitating, and sometimes may lead to life-threatening complications.

While there's no known cure for Crohn's disease, therapies can greatly reduce its signs and symptoms and even bring about long-term remission. With treatment, many people with Crohn's disease are able to function well.

Chron's disease

Symptoms

In some people with Crohn's disease, only the last segment of the small intestine (ileum) is affected. In others, the disease is confined to the colon (part of the large intestine). The most common areas affected by Crohn's disease are the last part of the small intestine and the colon.

Signs and symptoms of Crohn's disease can range from mild to severe. They usually develop gradually, but sometimes will come on suddenly, without warning. You may also have periods of time when you have no signs or symptoms (remission).

When the disease is active, signs and symptoms may include:

Diarrhea

Fever

Fatigue

Abdominal pain and cramping

Blood in your stool

Mouth sores

Reduced appetite and weight loss

Pain or drainage near or around the anus due to inflammation from a tunnel into the skin (fistula)

Causes

The exact cause of Crohn's disease remains unknown. Previously, diet and stress were suspected, but now doctors know that these factors may aggravate but don't cause Crohn's disease. A number of factors, such as heredity and a malfunctioning immune system, likely play a role in its development.

Immune system. It's possible that a virus or bacterium may trigger Crohn's disease. When your immune system tries to fight off the invading microorganism, an abnormal immune response causes the immune system to attack the cells in the digestive tract, too.

Heredity. Crohn's is more common in people who have family members with the disease, so genes may play a role in making people more susceptible. However, most people with Crohn's disease don't have a family history of the disease.

Risk factors

Age. Crohn's disease can occur at any age, but you're likely to develop the condition when you're young. Most people who develop Crohn's disease are diagnosed before they're around 30 years old.

Ethnicity. Although Crohn's disease can affect any ethnic group, whites and people of Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jewish descent have the highest risk. However, the incidence of Crohn's disease is increasing among blacks who live in North America and the United Kingdom.

Family history. You're at higher risk if you have a close relative, such as a parent, sibling or child, with the disease. As many as 1 in 5 people with Crohn's disease has a family member with the disease.

Cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking is the most important controllable risk factor for developing Crohn's disease. Smoking also leads to more-severe disease and a greater risk of having surgery. If you smoke, it's important to stop.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications. These include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), naproxen sodium (Aleve), diclofenac sodium (Voltaren) and others. While they do not cause Crohn's disase, they can lead to inflammation of the bowel that makes Crohn's disease worse.

Where you live. If you live in an urban area or in an industrialized country, you're more likely to develop Crohn's disease. This suggests that environmental factors, including a diet high in fat or refined foods, may play a role in Crohn's disease.

Famous people with Chron's disease

1. Shannen Doherty (revealed that she had Crohn’s Disease in 1999.)

2. Dwight D. Eisenhower (was known to have suffered from Crohn's disease.)

3. Anastacia (Anastacia credits Crohn's Disease with helping her achieve success. She said, "I had changed the way I thought about things. I felt at ease with my emotions. I didn't let myself get wound up when I wasn't making it as a singer.")

4. Cynthia McFadden (Cynthia McFadden learned that she had Crohn's disease when she was a freshman in college.)

5. Beth Orton (Beth Orton was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when she was 17 years old.)

6. Mike McCready (Pearl Jam musician, Mike McCready, has struggled with Crohn's Disease for over 25 years.) 

7. Lew DeWitt (Lew DeWitt was forced to quit playing with the Statler Brothers in the earlier 1980s due to Crohn's Disease.)

8. David Garrard (NFL player David Garrard first experienced the symptoms of Crohn's Disease in 2004.)

9. Chris Conley (Saves the Day musician, Chris Conley, continued to tour despite having Crohn's Disease.)

10. Mark Reale (Mark Reale suffered from Crohn's Disease for most of his life.)

11. Frank Fritz (American Picker's star, Frank Fritz, has been treated for Crohn's Disease for over 20 years.)

Specialty - Gastroenterology

Medication -  Corticosteroids, methotrexate

Death from Crohn's disease

We traced 1,000 patients with Crohn's disease hospitalized at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City during 1972-1987 to identify those who died, the events preceding death, and their relationship to Crohn's disease. We considered any management early in the disease that might have influenced outcome. We introduce the term "virulent" Crohn's disease to describe those patients with most or all of the following: young age at onset, multiple surgical procedures, short bowel/malabsorption, chronic steroid therapy, narcotic addiction, and sepsis. Twenty-five patients (2.6%) had died. Major events preceding 18 deaths related to Crohn's disease were virulent Crohn's disease (six), gastrointestinal neoplasms (six), complications in the elderly (five), and complications of drug therapy (one). Those seven deaths probably unrelated to Crohn's disease were attributed to extraintestinal neoplasms (four) and myocardial infarction (three). Death was related to Crohn's disease or its treatment in 72% and perhaps in all. Ten of the 25 died at age 46 or younger (mean 36 years, range 25-46 years). Twenty-two (88%) who died had undergone surgery for Crohn's disease (mean 3.3 procedures) including eight who died postoperatively (six elderly), attributable to sepsis in seven and pulmonary embolism in one. The events preceding death suggest that early aggressive nonoperative therapy for severe Crohn's disease warrants a careful controlled evaluation.

Death from Chron's disease author: (Department of Medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY 10021.)

Author of article: Gianni Dee
Sources: Wikipedia, Lenox Hill Hospital & personal research and experience.