{"id":5994,"date":"2023-04-05T07:42:19","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yourgrowth.guide\/?p=5994"},"modified":"2023-04-05T07:42:19","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:42:19","slug":"meet-the-unknown-crohns-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yourgrowth.guide\/en\/meet-the-unknown-crohns-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Unknown Crohn’s Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’ve lost your appetite lately and are looking for the bathroom first everywhere you go, learn more about Crohn’s Disease. It may concern you.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Crohn’s Disease<\/b><\/h2>\n

Crohn’s disease is an autoimmune chronic inflammatory disorder, non-infectious. Along with ulcerative colitis, it belongs to IBD (Idiopathic Inflammatory Bowel Diseases). The difference with ulcerative colitis is that while ulcerative colitis only causes inflammation in the lining of the large intestine, Crohn’s disease causes inflammation throughout the digestive tract, from the mouth to the terminal ileum, the last point of the small intestine.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was named after the first doctor who published relevant research on it in 1932, the New Yorker Dr. Burrill. His collaborators in this research were Gordon Oppenheimer and Leon Ginzburg.<\/span><\/p>\n

Symptoms of Crohn’s disease may appear gradually but, in rare cases, they can develop rapidly.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is difficult to diagnose because it affects the whole part of the digestive system and its symptoms can be “confused” with the symptoms of other disorders or diseases. If e.g. there are symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea, it can be “confused” with Irritable Syndrome, while if it “hits” higher in the small intestine it can look like appendicitis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your doctor will rule out anything else by asking you to have tests such as blood tests, stool tests, colonoscopy, gastroscopy and imaging tests. He will judge which of all these tests are necessary for your particular case. He will also most likely prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs at first, and then if indicated, biologics, newer drugs that treat some of the disease by using your immune system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Surgery is deemed necessary only in the most severe cases, such as when fistulas and abscesses have formed that do not close in the rectum.<\/span><\/p>\n

Early diagnosis is an important ally in predicting the disease and treating it immediately, in order to prevent the appearance of more serious symptoms of the Disease.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is still no definitive and specific treatment, since the causes of Crohn’s Disease remain still unknown, despite continuous research and advances in medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Statistical data<\/b><\/h2>\n

Crohn’s disease affects both sexes equally, between the ages of 15-35.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a much smaller, but real, percentage it can also occur in children and the elderly.<\/span><\/p>\n

About 50 people in 100,000 suffer from Crohn’s disease. Although its incidence rates are still considered relatively low, it is predicted that its rates will rapidly increase in the coming years in Western societies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although it is not an inherited disease, it is estimated that approximately 25% of sufferers have another family member with Crohn’s Disease, especially in the case of twins.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to research, about 67% of sufferers who have the disease in remission will present at least one period of exacerbation in the next 5 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Crohn’s Disease Symptoms<\/b><\/h2>\n

Each person affected by Crohn’s Disease is an individualized case since they may have all or some of the symptoms, and may experience the disease in flare-ups or remissions. Also, it is possible for different symptoms to peak in each flare-up, depending on which part of your digestive system is affected by Crohn’s Disease.<\/span><\/p>\n

The main symptoms are:<\/span><\/p>\n