Living With Crohn 's Disease

I was a 14 year old freshman in high school when I started getting sick. I was always a pretty healthy kid who had perfect attendance records UNTIL that year. The extreme fatigue and weight-loss was the main sign to my mom that something was seriously wrong. Around January of 2010 I had a colonoscopy to confirm what my doctor already believed. I have Crohn’s Disease.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It causes inflammation of the lining of your digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea and even malnutrition. Inflammation caused by Crohn's disease can involve different areas of the digestive tract in different people. The inflammation caused by Crohn's disease often spreads deep into the layers of affected bowel tissue. Like ulcerative colitis, another common IBD, Crohn's disease can be both painful and debilitating, and sometimes may lead to life-threatening complications. Although it may involve any part of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus, it most commonly affects the last part of the small intestine (ileum) and/or the large

I confirm that I have known Mary Barber Burks for the past 35 years of my life. I am her daughter and have witness the cause and effect of her illness. Ms. Barber-Burks has suffered with colitis since I was 11-years-old, and recently several attacks of pancreatitis. These diseases have had a negative impact on her, as well as, unable her from living a normal life.

Crohn’s disease is characterized by inflammation of segments of the GI tract. The parts of the tract where Crohn’s disease is most often seen are in the terminal ileum, jejunum, and right side of colon. Involvement of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum is

Crohn 's disease is one of two conditions referred to by the term "Inflammatory Bowel Disease" (IBD). The other condition that is referred to as an IBD is called Ulcerative Colitis. Both Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis are conditions that cause recurring or persistent inflammation in one or more sections of the intestine. The literal definition of "inflammation" is "being set on fire". It is a protective reaction that happens when tissue is injured or destroyed. There are two types of inflammations. The first is acute inflammation, which is defined by heat, redness, pain and swelling. The

It is important that they get enough calories, protein, and essential nutrients from a variety of food groups. The patient needs to eat smaller meals, and eat more often and need to drink plenty of liquids. The doctor may prescribe drugs that will help relieve the patient's symptoms such as anti-diarrhea drugs, fiber supplements, and pain medications. To help manage the patient's Crohn's disease is to join a support group and exercise. Also trying biofeedback to reduce muscle tension, deep breathing exercises, listening to music, and other ways to relax.

Complications of Crohn’s may include bowel obstructions, ulcers, fistulas, malnutrition, anal fissures, colon cancer and other health problems. The bowel may become thickened and narrowed disallowing digestive contents to exit

A group of doctors in New York City first documented about Crohn’s Disease, but it was only named after one doctor. The group of doctors included Burril B. Crohn, Leon Ginzburg, and Gordon Oppenheimer. The doctors who discovered the irritation seen an array in some patients symptoms, “…noticed that fourteen patients shared the same characteristics of a disease pattern affecting the last part of the small intestine known as the terminal ileum” (Sklar 6). They only noticed the type of Crohn’s that affected the small intestine; there is more than one type of Crohn’s that affects your GI tract. At that time the terminal ileum was the only place doctors seen the disease strike. The New York City doctors may not be the people who discovered Crohn’s, a Scotland physician reported a case of “chronic intestinal

The name for these erosions is aphthous ulcers. These erosions, after a while, start to deepen and grow in diameter. Once they reach a certain size, they can be referred to as ulcers. These ulcers can cause scarring and they can also cause the bowel to become stiff and lose its elasticity. As Crohn’s worsens, the bowel becomes obstructed once the passageways narrow enough. This obstruction can cause a buildup of food that is still being digested, fluid and gas that comes from the stomach. This obstruction will then prevent all of those products from entering into the colon. This will cause severe abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and even abdominal distention. If the ulcers located in the walls of the bowel become large or extreme enough, holes can form in the walls of the bowel. Once those holes are formed in the bowel, the bacteria normal to the bowel can then pass through those holes and spread to nearby organs and into the abdominal cavity causing what are called fistulas. These fistulas are like a channel/tunnel that is formed between the ulcer and the adjacent organ. Then when a fistula is created between the affected intestine and the bladder, it is called an enteric-vesicular fistula which can lead to UTI’s and feces being presented during urination. Next, when the fistula is formed between the intestine and skin, it is called an enteric-cutaneous fistula. What this fistula, pus and mucous exit the body through a painful opening found in the skin of the

Crohn’s disease is a debilitating disease that can affect your entire life and lifestyle if you allow it to. It affects someone that is very dear to me, my best friend’s mother, Stephanie. I see her live through this day in and day out, and it has raised many questions in my mind. Questions like how you get it, why you get it, and what you really go through when you have it. It is something I have little knowledge of, and by learning more information on it, I feel as if I can possibly help her cope with it in the future.

Focal inflammation is characteristic of CD and may affect any or all layers of the GIT. Severe inflammation may cause the outer tunica of the affected areas to swell due to the build-up of exudate (characteristic of inflammation), which can cause pain, leading to abdominal cramps, and frequent emptying of the bowel, leading to diarrhoea. As CD is a chronic disease and persists for long periods of time, continuous diarrhoea may lead to weight loss in affected individuals.

Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes inflammation and sores, called ulcers, in the lining of the rectum and colon, also known as the large bowel. The inflammation may be taking place in the whole colon consisting of the pancolitis and ulcerative proctisis or perhaps somewhere in between the two. Ulcers form were inflammation has killed the cells that usually line the colon, then

The symptoms adults experience are much the same as the children experience without the stunning of growth and affect on puberty. Some adults having a mild form of the disease exhibit almost no symptoms. Others may experience a loss or gain in appetite, abdominal pain, bloating, gas or indigestion. In addition, other people have bothersome symptoms including diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal discomfort, and excessive gas caused by vitamin and nutrient deficiencies (The Mayo Clinic staff, 2011).

This essay will focus on Crohn’s disease and pathological changes that may occur in the small intestine as a result of the inflammatory process and discuss the scientific reasons for the possible treatments relating these to pathological processes.

The term Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a general name given to a few disorders that all fall under the category of inflamed intestines (they become red and swollen.) This is usually due to a reaction the body causes against its own intestinal tissue. The two most common types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease are Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD). Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract; however, it more commonly affects the small intestine or colon.