Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammation of the intestines. Any person can get it. What is it? What are the symptoms and what about pregnancy and having children during Crohn’s disease?
Crohn’s disease
Crohn’s disease is a long-term inflammation of the small and/or large intestine . In principle, the inflammation can occur from the mouth to the anus, but it usually affects the lower part of the small intestine, the ileum.
Crohn’s disease affects men and women equally and appears to run in families. About 20 percent of people with Crohn’s disease have a blood relative with a form of inflammatory bowel disease, this is often a brother or sister and sometimes a parent or child. Crohn’s disease is usually diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 30.
Crohn’s disease probably affects about 140 in 100,000 people.
Characteristic and Symptoms
- bouts of diarrhea;
- blood in the stool;
- narrowing of the intestine;
- fatigue and emaciation;
- Fistulas or pipe ulcers
If Kroon’s disease is active, other complaints may also occur:
- Canker sores in the mouth;
- Joint disorders 30% (this can also occur outside the gastrointestinal tract);
- Skin disorders 9-23%;
- Eye injuries, for example Uveitis, Episcleritis;
- Liver diseases;
- Osteoporosis (bone decalcification) can also occur due to the use of medications such as prednisone.
How does Crohn’s disease develop?
There are some theories about what causes Crohn’s disease, but none have been proven. The human immune system is made of cells and various proteins that protect people from infection. The most popular theory is that the body’s immune system reacts abnormally in people with Crohn’s disease and misunderstands bacteria, food and other substances as if they are ‘foreign’. The immune system’s response is to attack these “invaders”. During this process, white blood cells collect in the lining of the intestines, producing chronic inflammation, leading to ulcers and intestinal injuries.
Scientists do not know whether the abnormality in the functioning of the immune system in people with Crohn’s disease is a reason or a result of the disease. Research shows that the inflammation in people with Crohn’s disease involves several factors: the genes the patient has inherited, the immune system itself and the environment. Foreign substances, such as antigens, are found in the environment. A possible reason for inflammation may be the body’s response to these antigens or whether the antigens themselves are the reason for the inflammation. Some scientists think that a protein produced by the immune system called anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) could be a possible reason for the inflammation associated with Crohn’s disease.
Treatment method
Treatment may consist of medications, nutritional supplementation, surgery or a combination of these options. The goals of treatment are to control inflammation, improve nutritional deficiencies and relieve symptoms such as abdominal (pain in the abdominal cavity) pain, diarrhea and rectal bleeding.
At this time, treatment can help to prevent the patient from regularly experiencing symptoms of the disease, but there is no treatment yet that will result in a cure. Treatment for Crohn’s disease depends on the location and form of the disease , complications from previous treatments, and new symptoms that may arise. Some people have long periods, sometimes years, of being free from the symptoms of the disease. However, the disease usually recurs at different points in a person’s life. This changing model of the disease means that it is not always possible to say whether a treatment has actually worked. Someone with Crohn’s disease will need medical care for a long time, with regular doctor visits to monitor the situation.
Diets
People with Crohn’s disease often experience a decrease in appetite, which can result in not receiving enough daily nutrition needed for good health and healing. In addition, Crohn’s disease is associated with diarrhea and poor absorption of necessary nutrients. No special diet has been proven to be effective in preventing or treating Crohn’s disease, but it is very important that people who have Crohn’s disease eat a nutritious diet and avoid foods that worsen symptoms. There are no consistent dietary rules to follow that will improve a person’s symptoms.
Pregnancy and children
In general, women with Crohn’s disease are just as likely to have a normal pregnancy as women without it. Some women with Crohn’s disease who have surgeries or fistulas; in the small pelvis. are less likely to become pregnant. Most children born do not suffer from the disease themselves.
Children who develop the disease often suffer from it more than adults and in some cases may suffer from delayed growth and delayed sexual development.
Ostomy
Many women with a stoma can have a normal pregnancy. Normally it is common practice to perform a caesarean section.
Doctor Burrill B Crohn
The origin of the name: Crohn’s disease
Doctor Burrill B Crohn (gastroenterologist) and his colleagues wrote an article together in 1932 about the unknown condition enteritis (this means inflammation of the last part of the small intestine) in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The authors’ names were arranged alphabetically. Burrill B Crohn was listed first, and since then the name Crohn’s disease has been used instead of enteritis regionalis.
After his death on July 29, 1983, the Burrill B Crohn Research Foundation was founded by his wife. This fund supports scientific research into the disease.