What is
Crohns?


In this section What is Crohns? or CD as I sometimes call it.....I hope to be able to explain this debilitating disease in laymans words and not throw medical terms and 'big' words out that you would have to be a doctor to understand.

Symptoms:



Crohn's Disease is when your body mistakenly identifies your intestines as foreign material, and sets out to eliminate them. It is not contagious. This is an intestinal disease affecting 400,000 people in the United States and is actually a variety of related disorders that can be inherited and cause similar symptoms in close relatives. Crohn's disease is difficult to diagnose due to its location and its mimicking of other medical problems. It closely resembles a spastic colon and sometimes appendicitis. About 20 percent of people with Crohn's disease have a blood relative with some form of inflammatory bowel disease, most often a brother or sister and sometimes a parent or child. I tried to find anyone in my family that had it....nobody had even the symptoms..until a year ago. My fathers sister at the age of 65 became very sick and hospitalized and that is when the discovered that she had it.

There is little proof that Crohn's disease is caused by emotional distress or by an unhappy childhood. *that's good..cuz I had a great childhood!* However..in my case (and humble opinion) stress and anxiety are indeed the most easily identified factors immediately prior to each of my worst CD episodes...(living in another state, birth of my children, my husbands unemployment, separation and divorce). Whether they are triggers, causes, or associated symptoms is another question..and I am sure that it depends on how each of us channels the stress in our lives.

Crohn's Disease is an ulceration of the lower GI tract, usually where the colon and small bowel meet. This portion of the ulceration is called Crohn's. This disease can lie dormant for many years, then inflame and cause great pain and discomfort. It can be controlled, but currently, there is no cure. Its general cause is unknown, but the theory of its cause probably has something to do with the immune system in the intestines and lower GI.

It can be treated with medication, but two-thirds of people affected need surgery, usually because of a blockage in the intestine. And in half of these cases, the disease returns after the operation. Crohn's disease can be helped this way, but it cannot be cured by surgery. The inflammation tends to return in areas of the intestine next to the area that has been removed. Many individuals with Crohn's disease choose to do this, either to relieve chronic symptoms of active disease that does not respond to medical therapy or to correct complications such as intestinal blockage, perforation, abscess, or bleeding.Although stress can exacerbate the problem, it is not the cause. My doctor said that it was a 'patient tolerant' disease.....and most would wait until they could not stand their lifestyle anymore...or needed releif from the pain.
Both were true in my case.

Women with Crohn's disease who are considering having children can be comforted to know that the vast majority of such pregnancies will result in normal children. Research has shown that the course of pregnancy and delivery is usually not impaired in women with Crohn's disease. While I was pregnant I felt the best that I ever did ..(would have loved to be pregnant FOREVER if this is how it felt to be *normal*)..seems that your body makes more cortisone for the 9 months and that held back all of my symtems. Even so, it is a good idea for women with Crohn's disease to discuss the matter with their doctors before pregnancy. Children who do get the disease are sometimes more severely affected than adults, with slowed growth and delayed sexual development in some cases.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory process that can affect any portion of the digestive tract, but is most commonly seen (roughly half of all cases) in the last part of the small intestine, stomach or esophagus.......all part of the digestive track. It is a chronic, inflammatory disease that may cause pain, fever, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, loss of weight, and numerous other complications most often painful inflammation of the intestine. Crohn's may appear in one of three forms: 1) a relatively mild form that remains localized in one area of the intestine; 2) intestinal scarring that eventually causes blockage of the intestine; and 3) a more dangerous form that sometimes perforates the intestinal wall.

The most common complication of CD is blockage (obstruction) of the intestine. Blockage occurs because the disease tends to thicken the bowel wall with swelling and fibrous scar tissue, narrowing the passage. Crazy lady that I am...I have had this happen to me...mostly when I eat and don't think!! Once I ate two apples in the car, and once when I was at a wedding shower and was eating peanuts and not drinking anything to help wash it down and digest. I learned the hard way to drink while eating & chew my food well..(as all moms try to teach their children..I was just a slowwwww learner!) I still love apples and peanuts and haven't had to change my eating habits.
NOTE Some call this the Eisenhower Disease....The President had eaten some uncooked celery and ended up with a blockage. So we walk in line with famous people too!

Crohn's disease also may cause deep ulcer tracts that burrow all the way through the bowel wall into surrounding tissues, into adjacent segments of intestine, into other nearby organs such as the urinary bladder or vagina, or into the skin. These tunnels are called fistulas. They are a common complication and often are associated with pockets of infection or abcesses (infected areas of pus). The areas around the anus and rectum often are involved. Sometimes fistulas can be treated with medicine, but in many cases they must be treated surgically. Since my surgery in 1989 this is really the only complication that I have had.. (besides learning to chew my food!) I have been very fortunate that by the time I know I have a fistula I can call my doctor and have it treated with anti-biotics and have never had them affect any nearby organs to my knowledge.

No special diet has been proven effective for preventing or treating this disease. Some people find their symptoms are made worse by milk, alcohol, hot spices, or fiber. But there are no hard and fast rules for most people. Follow a good nutritious diet and try to avoid any foods that seem to make your symptoms worse. A small number of individuals may need periods of feeding by vein. This can help individuals who temporarily need extra nutrition, those whose bowels need to rest, or those whose bowels cannot absorb enough nourishment from food taken by mouth.

Although people with severe cases of CD do have ostomy surgery, it is important to note that surgery is not a cure for CD. The disease can, and often will recur somewhere else along the digestive system later on in life. Surgery is just a way of (hopefully) putting the patient in remission for quite a while. Rosey and I ( my nickname for my stoma ) have gotten along very well the last 12 years...sometimes I smile and think that everyone should be born this way because I no longer live on pain pills and can do in life whatever I chose. I travel more, enjoy doing things outdoors without fear of knowing exactly where the ladies room is and go into crowded places knowing I don't have to make a bee line for the powder room. (smile)



Some sources for information:

National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services



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Last updated on March 12, 2000.