WHAT IS CROHN'S?
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+ Getting diagnosed
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What is Crohn’s disease?
When you eat nutritious foods like carbohydrates and protein, which keep your body running, your gastrointestinal (GI) tract processes that food, absorbing the necessary nutrients and getting rid of any waste. The GI tract starts from your mouth and ends with your anus and includes your esophagus, stomach, and intestines.
When you have Crohn’s disease, your body’s immune system begins attacking the healthy cells in your GY tract, causing inflammation and irritation.
Because it is a disease of the immune system, Crohn's is classified medically as an autoimmune disorder. This means that your body is producing antibodies that work against itself.
Inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, is a category of bowel disorders that includes both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.
Crohn's disease is most often found in a section of the small intestine called the ‘ileum’, but Crohn’s can happen anywhere in your GI tract from the mouth to the anus.
What causes Crohn's disease?
Unfortunately, no one knows exactly what causes Crohn's, just that something in your body causes your immune system to overreact.
However, various stimuli may trigger Crohn's disease, affecting individuals differently.
For instance, it might be a kind of bacteria, something in your own intestines, or even your family history. (as is the case with Jessica who has two maternal aunts with Crohn’s.)
In fact, scientists now believe it is a combination of all these factors. If you have Crohn’s disease, you may have inherited a unique gene in your immune system. Then, something happened that triggered that gene, causing the overreaction, which then caused inflammation in your intestines.
Who gets Crohn's disease?
Crohn’s disease can affect anyone at any age; most often, it’s usually first diagnosed in people in their teens and twenties.
Crohn's tends to affect men and women equally, though some groups, including blacks, whites, and Jews of European descent, are diagnosed more frequently than Asians and Hispanics.
Will Crohn's ever go away?
Crohn's disease is a chronic condition, which means you have it for life. However, there are time when your disease may be in remission, and so you would show no symptoms at all.
Crohn’s flare ups may be caused by certain foods, smoking, or even stress, but they may happen for unknown reasons as well.
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Currently, there is no cure for Crohn's disease, although advances are being made all the time. People often need treatment to control the symptoms and improve their quality of life.
Crohn’s disease can affect your diet, relationships and even choice of career but with the proper care, the majority of people with Crohn’s are able to lead relatively normal lives with a normal life expectancy.
LIVING WITH
CROHN'S DISEASE:
JESSICA'S STORY
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