What is Crohn's Disease?

• April 19, 2024

Having stomach pain is increasingly complicated, as it could be confused with various digestive disorders.

One of them: Crohn's disease, which is a chronic intestinal inflammation that can be annoying, and sometimes comes to serious complications, but is not fatal.

It affects the entire thickness of the intestinal wall and usually manifests in the lower portion of the small intestine (ileum) and the large intestine. It can also damage any area of ​​the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus. The majority of people who have it are under 30 years old.

The causes are unknown, but some research has focused on three possibilities: a dysfunction of the immune system, an infection or diet.

symptom

1. Diarrhea
2. Abdominal pain type "cramping"
3. Pain in the joints
4. Lack of appetite
5. Weightloss
6. Flatulence
7. Fever

Diagnosis

To confirm the diagnosis you must go to the doctor. In some cases you may feel a lump in the lower abdomen, which manifests most of the time on the right side.

In some cases the doctor may request a study called colonoscopy (examination of the large intestine with a flexible viewing tube) and a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. An abdominal tomography can evaluate the inflammation of the intestine and rule out the presence of abdominal masses.

Complications

If the disease is not controlled in time the patient may have some ulcers in the intestines or around them.

When the large intestine is affected by Crohn's disease, a rectal hemorrhage may occur, which over time increases the risk of colon cancer.

Treatment

It will be determined by the doctor depending on the stage in which the disease is found, since in many cases people are not treated on time. Cramps and diarrhea may be controlled with drugs that are administered orally.

Some medications relieve symptoms. When it affects the colon, or if there are fissures or abscesses around the anus. Good nutrition and a soft diet can improve the pictures of intestinal obstruction or fistulas (wounds), during some periods of time.

When the bowel is obstructed, abscesses or fistulas do not heal, and medication-based treatment is unable to control symptoms, surgery will be necessary.

Video Medicine: What is Crohn's Disease? (April 2024).