Crohn’s Disease

What is Crohn’s Disease?

Crohn’s disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the small bowel and part of the large bowel. It may also affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract. This includes the mouth, stomach and the anus. This should not be confused with ulcerative colitis that only affects the colon or any other under the irritable bowel syndrome group as it is in the inflammatory bowel disease. Crohn’s is the body’s immune response to bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract causing an exaggerated attack that leads to chronic inflammation. The symptoms occur due to the thickening of the walls in the intestines and ulceration.

Who Gets It?

While it is more common in adolescents and young adults it can affect anyone can become prevalent at any age. Around 700,000 Americans are affected by Crohn’s disease and while the disease has no certain cause there are some hereditary causes in the family line. You have a higher chance of getting the disease if one parent has it and are more than likely to develop if both are affected. There are dietary and environmental factors that come into play to the development as well.

Diagnosing Crohn’s can be difficult since there is no single test that can decide that if it is specifically what is ailing you. There are multiple tests that can help us at Premier Multispecialty Infusions understand the issues though. We can help by using a patient’s history, physical examination, blood and stool samples.