Q: What exactly is Crohn's Disease? Can it be treated?
A: Crohn's disease is a condition of chronic inflammation potentially involving any location of the gastrointestinal tract, but it often affects the end of the small bowel and the beginning of the large bowel. With Crohn's disease, all layers of the intestine may be involved. There can be normal healthy bowel between patches of diseased bowel.
Symptoms include persistent diarrhea (loose, watery or frequent bowel movements), cramping abdominal pain, fever and possible weight loss also may occur. Crohn's disease can also affect the joints, eyes, skin and liver. Fatigue is another symptom.'
The most common complication of Crohn's disease is blockage of the intestine due to swelling and scar tissue. Symptoms of blockage include cramping pain, vomiting and bloating. another complication is sores or ulcers withing the intestinal tract. Sometimes these deep ulcers turn into tracts --called fistulas. Crohn's patients may also have an increased risk of colon cancer.
Doctors treat Crohn's disease with medicines, avoiding potential dietary triggers, bowel rest and surgery. No single treatment works for everyone. The goals of treatment are to decrease the inflammation in the intestines, to prevent flare-ups of symptoms and to keep the Crohn's disease in remission.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Good Neighbor Pharmacy Health Connection, March 2017
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