 |
print the page |  |
email the page |  |
|
- What is crohn's disease?
- Symptoms of crohn's disease
- Causes of crohn's disease
- Prevention of crohn's disease
- Risk factors for crohn's disease
- Complications of crohn's disease
- When to see a doctor about crohn's disease
- Diagnosis of crohn's disease
- Conventional treatment of crohn's disease
- Alternative/complementary treatment of crohn's disease
- Living with crohn's disease
- Caring for someone with crohn's disease
Crohn's disease is one type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the other is ulcerative colitis. Crohn's disease was named after Dr Burrill Crohn, who together with Dr Leon Ginzburg and Dr Gordon Oppenheimer, first identified the disease in 1932.
Crohn's disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract - from the mouth to the anus - but mostly commonly affects the ileum (which is the third part of the small intestine that joins the large intestine (colon or bowel). The colon may also be affected, which can make it difficult to distinguish Crohn's disease from ulcerative colitis.
Crohn's disease can affect not just the lining of the bowel, but all the layers of the bowel (from the layers of mucosa to the smooth muscles).
Crohn's disease is further divided into different sub-conditions depending on which part of the bowel (intestine) is affected:
- Crohn's colitis - only the large intestine (or colon) is affected
- Ileo colitis - both the small and large intestines (bowel) are affected
- Ileitis - only the small intestine (bowel) is affected
More people have Crohn's disease than ulcerative colitis (a ratio of 3:2) and somewhat more women have Crohn's disease than ulcerative colitis.
Advertisement
Facts about Crohn's disease
- People who smoke or more likely to be diagnosed with Crohn's disease than non-smokers and in fact, giving up smoking can decrease symptoms significantly in some people
- Women who take the contraceptive pill may also have more severe and lengthier episodes of Crohn's disease than women who do not take the contraceptive pill
- Crohn's disease is known as an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
- Crohn's disease may cause an malabsorption of vital nutrients and cause weight loss
- Up to 70% of people who have Crohn's disease need surgery at some point in the course of their disease
- Crohn's disease causes impaired fat absorption, which means the fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K) may not be able to be absorbed properly as they need to be absorbed with some fat in order to be able to be digested properly, so this could cause a deficiency in any or all of them
Advertisement
Sections: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
2: symptoms >
