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- 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
Complications of Crohn's disease
Crohn's disease can become complicated and cause a number of further symptoms, some of which can be serious and life threatening:
- Abscess - if any part of the bowel becomes infected and inflamed, it can fill up with pus and cause an abscess to develop, which are treated by antibiotics; sometimes the abscess needs to be drained if the antibiotics do not heal the infection
- Anaemia - many people with Crohn's disease have deficiency of intrinsic factor, associated with a lack of vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) due to malabsorption and this can result in anaemia
- Arthritis - people with any type of inflammatory bowel disease are also at very high risk of also developing arthritis, because this condition is also due to inflammation in the body, so this is yet another complication
- Colon cancer - people with long term, chronic and severe ulcerative colitis may have a higher risk of developing colon cancer, especially because this condition can cause polyp development in the colon, which can become malignant over time
- Dehydration - the person with ulcerative colitis may becomes dehydrated due to the malabsorption problems
- Fistula - this is a small tunnel that links one organ to another which has been formed when an abscess erodes into a neighbouring organ. Fistulas most often occur between the bowel and vagina or the bladder and skin. Surgery is required to remove the fistula and antibiotics are also used to prevent further infection
- Inability of the blood to clot properly - the red blood cells may not be able to clot properly, which means wounds or injuries do not heal properly and this is a high risk factor for internal bleeding. This complication may be due to deficiency of intrinsic factor, associated with a lack of vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) due to malabsorption
- Intestinal obstruction - sometimes abscesses can cause scar tissue to be formed when it is healed, which is less flexible than normal tissue in the bowel and may cause a full or partial obstruction of the bowel which means food cannot pass through properly. A full obstruction of the bowel needs urgent surgery to open it up and prevent fatal consequences
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- Jaundice - in the condition jaundice, the skin and whites of the eyes turns yellow due to overproduction of the bilirubin, either due to malfunction of the liver or inability of the bile to recycle the bilirubin. The bilirubin is what colours the red blood cells, red
- Liver disease - the liver may stop functioning normally due mainly to other complications of ulcerative colitis, especially malnutrition because of the inability to absorb nutrients from food. Liver disease that can occur as a complication of ulcerative colitis is: cirrhosis, fatty liver, hepatitis
- Malnutrition - people with ulcerative colitis may have malnutrition and deficiency in a number of nutrients, despite eating a healthy diet and this is because of the colon's malfunction and inability to absorb any nutrients properly or at all. Especially at risk of deficiency are the fat-soluble vitamins and this is because of the colon's inability to deal properly with fat absorption and these vitamins need some dietary fat in order to be absorbed properly: vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K
- Perforation - if the infected abscess bursts, it can cause a rupturing of the colon and pus can leak out
- Peritonitis - if the infected abscess that burst leaks pus into the peritoneum, causing wider-scale infection in the abdominal area. Peritonitis, if not dealt with very quickly can be fatal (surgery is required to get rid of the pus in the peritoneum and remove the part of the colon that is infected)
- Weight loss - people with Crohn's disease can experience weight loss, due to malabsorption of nutrients from food eaten, due to the colon's malfunction and inability to absorb nutrients properly or at all
Sections: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
< 5: risk factors 7: when to see a doctor > Last reviewed: 14 November 2008 || Last updated: 3 January 2009
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NOTE: Mega doses of any type of vitamin, mineral, amino acid or herbal supplement cannot cure illnesses and in fact can be very dangerous and produce toxic side effects and interfere with medicine you are taking. Always ensure you consult your doctor before taking any type of complementary supplements.
Disclaimer: This guide is not intended to be used for diagnostic or prescriptive purposes. For any treatment or diagnosis of illness, please see your doctor.
