Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the
intestines. It primarily causes ulcerations (breaks in the lining) of the small
and large intestines, but can affect the digestive system anywhere from the
mouth to the anus. It causes a wide variety of symptoms like abdominal pain,
diarrhea (even bloody if inflammation is severe), vomiting, weight loss. It may
also cause complications outside the gastrointestinal tract such as skin
rashes, arthritis, inflammation of the eye, tiredness, and lack of concentration.
Crohn’s disease is related closely to another chronic inflammatory condition that involves only the colon called ulcerative colitis. Together, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are frequently referred to as Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Crohn’s disease is related closely to another chronic inflammatory condition that involves only the colon called ulcerative colitis. Together, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are frequently referred to as Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Crohn’s disease is caused by interactions between environmental,
immunological and bacterial factors in genetically susceptible individuals.
This result in a chronic inflammatory disorder, in which the body’s immune
system attacks the gastrointestinal tract possibly directed at microbial
antigens. Crohn’s disease has traditionally been described as an autoimmune
disease, but recent investigators have described it as an immune deficiency
state.
Many people with Crohn’s disease have symptoms for years prior
to the diagnosis. Because of the ‘patchy’ nature of the gastrointestinal
disease and the depth of tissue involvement, initial symptoms can be more
subtle than those of ulcerative colitis. People with Crohn’s disease experience
chronic recurring periods of flare-ups and remission.
Crohn’s disease tends to present initially in the teens and
twenties, with another peak incidence in the fifties to seventies, although the
disease can occur at any age. Males and females are equally affected. Smokers
are two times more likely to develop Crohn’s disease than nonsmokers. Crohn’s
disease tends to be more common in relatives of patients with Crohn’s disease.
If a person has a relative with the disease, his/her risk of developing the
disease is estimated to be at least 10 times that of the general population and
30 times greater if the relative with Crohn’s disease is a sibling.
Treatment options are restricted to controlling symptoms,
maintaining remission, and preventing relapse. The disease was named after
gastroenterologist Burrill Bernard Crohn, who, in 1932, together with two other
colleagues at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, described a series of patients
with inflammation of the terminal ileum, the area most commonly affected by the
illness.
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