Crohn's Disease affects someone in my family, so any progress or treatment news is very exciting to me. CD (Crohn's Disease) belongs to a group of conditions of IBD ( Inflammatory Bowel Disease). CD is a chronic inflammatory disease of the (GI) Gastrointestinal track, and often shows up in patches anywhere in the small intestine.
CD is an autoimmune disease, which means the immune system attacks healthy cells in the GI, causing inflammation. This causes flare ups. CD is either in remission or in a flare up. There is no cure, but there is treatment.
Treatment for CD varies at how moderate or severe the condition is. The goal of treatment is to reduce inflammation, heal the intestine and keep symptoms away. Crohn's patients often lose weight because of the disease, so another goal is to keep the body growing.
One of the treatment paths to take is Nutritional Therapy.
Other treatments include the medications (5-ASA), Corticosteroids, Antibiotics, Immunomodulators, and Biologics.
Biologics are the newest treatments available to Crohn's patients. The treatment involves an IV infusion and then a number of injections depending on what biologic you are taking. Biologics target the proteins causing inflammation. Of course there are side effects, some quite serious, and you also have to hope it is keeping your CD in remission. But, this treatment, if pliable with your body, would be a blessing to all of those suffering with the flare ups that come with Crohn's Disease.
The causes of CD are heredity. If a member of your family has IBS (Irritated Bowel Syndrome), or IBD, the chances of their offspring having CD are much greater. I've always had IBS and never knew it. I had to go through something severely stressful to go to a doctor for it, so unfortunately, it makes sense that my family member has CD.
On the upside, my family member is one tough cookie, and I think it's because of all of the hardships she has endured, one of them being, just the diagnosis process itself. CD is very hard to pinpoint. Symptoms (diarrhea, fatigue, aches in joints, blood in stools) are often the indications of any number of diseases. For example, when blood tests come back showing low levels of iron, anemia is often the diagnosis. As a result of the tricky identification of the disease, so many blood tests were needed. And now, when she gets a "shot" for something.....she's a pro. And HOPE fully one who is on her way to CD remission.
If you or someone you love suffers from Crohn's Disease, and you would like to know more, this is a great websites to visit: www.crohncolitisfoundation.org.
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