About Crohn's Disease

Crohn's Disease is an inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract, and is considered one of several types of Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Crohn's can occur anywhere in the digestive tract, from the mouth to the anus, but most cases are located in the bowels, often in the area where the small intestine connects to the large intestine.

It is considered an autoimmune disease, meaning the immune system attacks the body, causing inflammation. And it is a cyclical disease, many patients experience periods of remission when the disease slows or stops, and then later flares up again.

The most common symptoms of Crohn's Disease are diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and weight loss. Other symptoms are less common but do occur. These symptoms can include skin rashes, arthritis, headaches, eye inflammation and tiredness. Crohn's can occur at any age, even in children, but it is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 30.

While abdominal pain is usually the first symptom experienced, most sufferers have problems with diarrhea, bloating and flatulence (passing gas). The diarrhea is often watery and can be bloody, and it usually occurs multiple times per day. In some cases patients can have as many as twenty or more bouts of diarrhea per day (and night).

What causes this disease? No one really knows, but it does run in families and some genetic links have been found. People who have a brother or sister who have been diagnosed with Crohn's are 30 times more likely to develop the disease than others.

The latest available research points to an impaired immune system as a possible cause. Diet is also believed to play a large part in the large number of cases found in Western societies, and smoking is known to cause flare ups in those who are in remission.

If you have symptoms similar to those listed above, see your doctor. While there is no cure and no extremely effective treatments are available, there are medications that can help some sufferers.

Many people who suffer with Crohn's Disease and other digestive problems have found that eating in a way that allows the body to comfortably digest food without excess acid can eliminate most of their symptoms. When they do this they realize they can eat a huge variety of foods that their body previously could not tolerate.