About Crohn's Disease

Crohn's Disease

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Crohn's Disease involves chronic inflammation of the intestines. Common symptoms of Crohn's Disease include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. Less common symptoms include poor appetite, fever, night sweats, rectal pain, and rectal bleeding. Like ulcerative colitis, the symptoms and the prognosis of Crohn's Disease are dependent on the location and the intensity of the inflammation.
While ulcerative colitis appears only in the colon and the rectum, Crohn's Disease affects the colon, the rectum, and the small intestine. In rare instances, Crohn's Disease can also involve the stomach, the mouth, and the esophagus (the food pipe between the mouth and the stomach). Like Ulcerative Colitis, there are different types of Crohn's Disease based on disease locations:
Crohn's Colitis is inflammation that appears only in the colon. Abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea are the common symptoms. Anal fistulae and perirectal abscesses can also occur.
Crohn's Enteritis refers to inflammation only of the small intestine. Abdominal pain and diarrhea are the common symptoms. Obstruction of the small intestine (small intestinal obstruction) can also occur.
Crohn's Terminal Ileitis is inflammation that affects only the part of the small intestine closest to the colon (terminal ileum). Abdominal pain and diarrhea are the common symptoms. Small intestinal obstruction can also occur.
Crohn's Enterocolitis or Ileocolitis is a condition involving both the small intestine and the large intestine. Bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain are the common symptoms. Small intestinal obstruction can also occur. Crohn's Terminal Ileitis and Ileocolitis are the most common locations of the disease. The patterns of inflammation in Crohn's disease are different from Ulcerative Colitis. Except in the most severe cases, the inflammation in Ulcerative Colitis tends to involve the superficial layers of the inner wall. The inflammation tends also to be diffuse and uniform (all the mucosa in the affected segment of the bowel is inflamed). Unlike Ulcerative Colitis, the Crohn's Disease inflammation is more localized and involve deeper layers of the intestinal wall. Therefore, the affected segment(s) of bowel in Crohn's Disease is usually studded with ulcers (sometimes deep ulcers) with normal mucosa in between these ulcers.
The deep ulcers and inflammation of Crohn's Disease, along with chronic scarring, can decrease the inner diameter of the intestine (the size of the opening of the intestine). The inner diameter of the small intestine is normally smaller than that of the colon. When Crohn's Enteritis and Terminal Ileitis cause further narrowing of the small intestine, intestinal obstruction can occur. When the intestine is obstructed, the digested food, fluid and gas from the stomach and the upper intestines cannot pass into the colon. Symptoms of small intestinal obstruction include severe abdominal cramping pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal distention, and dehydration.
Deep ulcers can puncture holes in the walls of the small intestine and the colon, and create a tunnel between the intestine and the adjacent organs. If the ulcer tunnel reaches an adjacent empty space inside the abdominal cavity, a collection of infected pus (abdominal abscess) is formed. Patients with abdominal abscesses can develop high fevers, abdominal pain, and tender abdominal masses. When the ulcer tunnels into an adjacent organ, a fistula (channel) is formed.

Treatment

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Treatments for Crohn's Disease
Probiotics

Further Information

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An audio-visual presentation, by doctors.
http://www.ibd-cme.com/slideshow.asp∞

Patient Leaflets

Latest Research

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Crohn's Disease Research
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About Crohn's Disease Treatment Methods
Includes articles about which treatment methods etc are working well or creating problems.

Crohn's Disease Explained
Includes articles which explain research into Crohn's Disease, why it develops in the first place etc.

Latest News

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Crohn's Disease Treatment News
Includes articles about funding etc.

People who have achieved

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Robert Hill

Categories

CategoryBowelDisease