March 28, 2024

What Symptoms cause Crohn’s Disease?

Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this disease, the inflammation of the small intestine and colon takes place. As it can involve any part from the mouth to anus, and skip some parts also.

It includes different parts of the digestive tract. Its effects are such as pain in the abdomen, exhaustion, nutrition deficiency.

In serious conditions, it can also give danger to your life.

As there is not any perfect medications and treatment is available for proper cure of Crohn’s disease until now. Some therapies are present which can greatly reduce the sign and symptoms and can evade the situation for a longer period.

Symptoms of Crohn’s disease

Any part of the small intestine or large intestine can be affected by the disease. It can be a continuous incomplete digestive tract or involved in some parts too. For some people, it involves only, small intestine or colon.

The physical effects of Crohn’s disease can be mild or can be painful also.

It includes-

  • Diarrhoea.
  • Fever.
  • Exhaustion.
  • Presence of blood in excreta.
  • Gums bleeding.
  • Deduction in weight because due to decrease in weight.
  • Pain around the anus.

Other sign and symptoms-

  • Inflammation in skin, eyes, and joints.
  •  Calculi in Kidney.
  • Anaemia due to iron deficiency.
  • Retarded physical growth and sexual retardation also.

Causes of Crohn’s disease

As for many previous years, there has been a fundamental belief that stress and diet play a major role in the development of inflammatory bowel disease.

But now doctors say that specifically two reasons can promote its development but can’t be the primary reason for starting it.

Disturbances in the immune system and inheritance from the mother’s father can be the primary reason.

Immune system-

Any virus or bacteria can stimulate Crohn’s disease development in the body. But it is not yet clear which microorganism is a core reason. The immune system starts its work of attacking microorganisms when it affects any cells of your body.

Heredity

If anyone in your family, is suffering or has suffered from Crohn’s disease, chances will be high that you will be prone to have it.

Risk factors associated with Crohn’s Disease

Risk factors associated with Crohn disease like age factor, smoking, heredity , immunity  etc
Pic Credit: Flickr

1. Age factor

As there is no specific age or time in anyone’s life for the appearance of this disease. It develops slowly and when cant is handling without ignoring, suffering starts.

It can also be present in young people. Even people around 30 years of age are more prone to Crohn’s disease.

2. Race and regionality :

As any person belonging to any nationality and region can be diseased with Crohn’s diseases. Mainly white people of Eastern Europe got diseased. Now people from North America are also prone to Crohn’s disease.

3. Habit of Smoking.

It plays a very important role in the development of Crohn’s disease. Smoking can bring the need to even surgery.

Complications

Crohn’s disease can lead to many other complications-

1. Bowel complications

The bowel can block the flow of digestive contents; Crohn’s disease can affect the digestive tract completely.

2. Ulcers

As in Crohn’s disease inflammation takes place so open sores in the mouth, anus, or genital region can take place.

3. Fistulas

Ulcers extend completely through the walls of the intestine. It can progress in between your skin and intestine, or between your intestine and other organs.

4. Deficiency of nutrition

When the surface area of the stomach and intestine becomes reduced due to inflammation in that area, absorption of nutrients greatly reduced so soon the body will become nutrient deficient, also less amount of vitamin B12 can cause anemia.

5. Colorectal cancer

In Crohn’s disease, the colon of the large intestine, and it easily inflamed, there are chances of developing colon cancer. People with the age of more than 50 years have more risk to develop colon cancer, so they are advised to have a colonoscopy test.

6. Medications

Specific medicines used for reducing the symptoms of Crohn’s disease can also develop other serious complications such as lymphoma, and skin cancers. This is so because these medicines weaken the immune system of the body.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of Crohn’s disease is quite possible by ruling out the other possible reasons. This is so because as there is no separate test available for it.

Test of blood for Crohn’s disease

: A doctor can suggest blood tests for checking anemia condition in your body.

Other methods or techniques used for treating Crohn’s disease-

The doctor may use the technique colonoscopy, in this method doctor will insert a tube in the colon with the camera used at its end to take the inner view of the intestine. This tube will be lightened to take pictures more clearly.

Soon, the aggregate of inflammatory cells is found, then this will tell Crohn’s disease in the intestine.

2. The doctor can also go for a Computed Tomography scan (CT scan). This method is quite helpful to view the bowel and tissues nearby. It is a better test because it provides clear images of the same bowel.

Magnetic resonance imaging is also called an MRI scan. Magnetic field waves and radio waves are helpful to view the internal organs and tissues.

The above-mentioned techniques are possible due to developments in radiology science and medical science.

These methods are helpful and used worldwide to treat and diagnose those malignant tumors and other diseases like bowel disease here.

Treatment

As there is no exact cure or treatment available for Crohn’s disease. And treatment for every individual differs because of the difference in the stages of the disease.

These treatments are to lessen the sign and symptoms. In this way, the chances of recovery also increase.

  1. Drugs that reduce the inflammation are given to the patients. Corticosteroids which are anti-inflammatory drugs are useful in reducing inflammation. But these are for a short-term basis and not every patient with Crohn’s disease will get relief.

2. Our immune system of the body produces chemicals like histamine, serotonin which causes inflammation in response to microorganisms, so the use of suppressors will suppress the immune system of the body, and inflammation got reduced.

3. Use of Antibiotics to heal the people with Crohn’s disease: These will kill the bacteria present in the intestine which are stimulating the immune system of the intestine, so inflammation will be got reduced majorly.

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Moving downtown through the crowded roads of India, Aishwarya Gupta got an amazing idea of making her passion and medical knowledge helpful to others. When she is not busy with her blogs, you can find her inside the gym or lost in some interesting book.