Crohns

Crohn’s disease, also known as Crohns, is an inflammatory condition that affects the tissue lining the digestive system. It can affect a single site however it is much more common for it to affect multiple sites, mainly in the lower section of the small intestine i.e. the ileum, and the main section of the large intestine, also known as the colon. Crohns has a number of associated symptoms however they are very variable and depend to a large extent on which section of the bowel is affected. The main symptoms of Crohns include weight loss, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, lethargy, vomiting and nausea and low grade fever. Not every patient will experience all of these symptoms and similarly these symptoms are not indicative of Crohns thus anybody suspected of having the condition needs to get a proper diagnosis.

Apart from obvious weight loss and general ill health there are no real physical signs associated with Crohns. Thus a suspected sufferer will need to undergo a number of internal examinations before an exact diagnosis can be made. These examinations include a colonoscopy, a sigmoidoscopy and possibly a small bowel contrast enema which allows abnormal and inflamed areas within the small intestine to show on an x-ray. In rare cases where the oesophagus or stomach is affected a laparoscopy may also be performed.

Crohns is a relatively rare condition when compared to other disorders of the digestive system and because it presents similar symptoms it is often misdiagnosed in the first instance, often as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It is estimated that around 200,000 people in the UK and the USA combined suffer with Crohns which is a much smaller number than the amount of people with IBS. Crohns can affect both genders and although most sufferers experience their first symptoms between the ages of 15 and 30, the disease is not age-specific and can develop at any time.

Some patients have mild symptoms for much of the time however most of these people find that they can still lead relatively normal lives and that their condition is not the be all and end all. Unfortunately these symptoms can flair up occasionally so that quality of life is severely affected and while they are experiencing a bad episode they can literally do very little for themselves.

Crohns is thought to have a genetic link and one in ten people diagnosed with the condition has a close relative who also has Crohns or a similar inflammatory bowel disease. Even so there has to be other causative agents however as yet these have not been identified. It has been suggested that cigarette smoking may be one such causative agent because smokers are around three times more likely to be diagnosed with Crohns than non-smokers. Overall Crohns is a long-term condition that can seriously affect a person’s health.

 

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