Crohn’s Disease: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment.
Crohn’s disease is a condition that causes swelling, or inflammation, in part of your digestive system. It can affect any part of your digestive tract, but most often it involves your small intestine and colon (large intestine). Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) are part of a group of conditions called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). There’s no cure for Crohn’s, but treatment can ease your symptoms and help you enjoy a full, active life.
Symptoms of Crohn’s Disease
People with Crohn’s disease can have intense symptoms, followed by periods of no symptoms that may last weeks or years. The symptoms depend on the severity and location of the disease.
What are the first signs of Crohn’s disease?
Early signs of Crohn’s disease can easily be mistaken for other conditions. They may include:
- Frequent diarrhea
- Abdominal pain and tenderness
- Unexplained weight loss
- Blood in your poop
Other symptoms of Crohn’s disease
When it advances, you might notice:
- Nausea
- Tiredness
- Joint pain
- Fever
- Long-lasting diarrhea, often bloody and with mucus or pus
- Weight loss
Crohn’s disease and mouth sores
Crohn’s disease can cause painful mouth sores, which typically appear on the inner cheeks, lips, or tongue. These sores can be a sign of an active Crohn’s disease flare.
Types of Crohn’s Disease
There are five types of Crohn’s based on which part of your digestive tract is affected.
- Ileocolitis, the most common form of Crohn’s disease, involves your colon and the last part of your small intestine (called the ileum or terminal ileum).
- Crohn’s colitis or granulomatous colitis affects only your colon.
- Gastroduodenal Crohn’s disease affects your stomach and the first part of your small intestine (called the duodenum).
- Ileitis affects your ileum.
- Jejunoileitis causes small areas of inflammation in the upper half of your small intestine (called the jejunum).
Causes of Crohn’s Disease
Doctors aren’t sure what causes Crohn’s disease. Genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors can play a role. Some people think of it as an autoimmune disease, causing your body to attack its own tissues. Your body may also be prone to more severe-than-normal responses to harmless viruses, bacteria, or food in your gut.
Crohn’s Disease Risk Factors
A few things can make you more likely to get Crohn’s:
Genes. Crohn’s disease is often inherited. About 20% of people who have it have a close relative with either Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis.
Age. Though it can affect people of all ages, it’s mostly an illness of the young. Most people are diagnosed before age 30, but the disease can affect people in their 50s, 60s, 70s, or even later in life.
Smoking. This is one risk factor that’s easy to control. Smoking can make Crohn’s more serious and raise the odds that you’ll need surgery.
Where do you live? People living in urban areas or industrialized countries are more likely to develop Crohn’s disease.
Crohn’s disease epidemiology
The disease is mostly common in North America and Western Europe, where it affects 100-300 out of every 100,000 people. In the U.S., more than half a million people have it. Researchers think cases are increasing in the U.S. and some other nations.
Crohn’s disease seems to affect men and women at similar rates. People of northern European or central European Jewish (Ashkenazi) descent are at the highest risk.
Crohn’s Disease Treatment
There’s no single treatment that’s right for everyone with Crohn’s disease. Your treatment will depend on what’s causing your symptoms and how serious they are. Your doctor will try to reduce the inflammation in your digestive tract and keep you from having complications.
Anti-inflammatory drugs.
Examples include mesalamine (Asacol, Lialda, Pentasa), olsalazine (Dipentum), and sulfasalazine (Azulfidine). Side effects include upset stomach, headache, nausea, diarrhea, and rash. These medicines are used only in mild cases.
Corticosteroids. These are a more powerful type of anti-inflammatory drug. Examples include budesonide (Entocort) and prednisone or methylprednisolone (Solu-Medrol). If you take these for a long time, side effects can be serious and may include bone thinning, muscle loss, skin problems, and a higher risk of infection.
Immune system modifiers (immunomodulators), such as azathioprine (Imuran, Azasan) and methotrexate (Rheumatrex, Trexall). It can take up to six months for these drugs to work. They also bring a higher risk of infections that could be life-threatening.
Antibiotics. These drugs, such as ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and metronidazole (Flagyl), are used to fight infections in your digestive system caused by Crohn’s disease. Metronidazole can cause a metallic taste in your mouth, nausea, tingling, or numbness in your hands and feet. Ciprofloxacin can cause nausea and tenderness in your Achilles tendon.
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