U.S. Health Watch

Crohn’s disease is characterized by chronic inflammation of the colon. Most patients also experience abdominal pain and weight loss. The treatment for Crohn?s disease is similar to that of ulcerative colitis in the sense that it can be treated with sulfasalazine, mesalamine preparations, glucocorticoids and 6 mercaptopurine.

Antibiotics such as Ciprofloxacin and Metronidazole can also be effective for the complications that come along with Crohn?s disease. Metronidazole is very useful in treating fitulous disease in some patients.

The origin of Crohn?s disease is still a mystery in the medical world, however some researchers believe that overeating, chemical poisoning, bacterial and a lack of response by your own immune system may all be connected to Crohn?s disease.

Crohn?s disease can often be confused with regional ileitis, which is also a severe, progressive, inflammatory disease of the bowel. Its symptoms include diarrhea with pain. Bowel movements usually contain blood, mucus and pus, brought on by the infection. What makes Crohn?s different is that it can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract and does not necessarily involve constant unhealthy bowel movements, sometimes bowel movements are regular, other time they are not.

No symptoms are noticeable when your Crohn?s is in remission. In fact, most patients in remission may think that they are healed. But the truth of the matter is that there is still chance for the disease to reoccur, unless you take all necessary precautions and pay close attention to your health. If surgery becomes necessary for Crohn?s your disease, you can rest assured it is a well tolerated, reasonably safe procedure, with an operative mortality rate of only 6%.

Since diarrhea is one of the main symptoms of Crohn?s disease, it?s not unusual for patients to have some fissures, fistulas or thickening of the anal skin. The skin may also become swollen and discolored around the anus.

Crohn?s can also bring about biochemical disturbances in the liver. Many patients hat exhibit this symptom have a family history of allergies that includes hives and asthma. Additional symptoms can include enlargement of the ends of the fingers (called clubbing), thrush in the mouth, lesions in the eyes and arthritis that effects the large joints.

Even today there is no effective cure for Crohn?s disease. Although the disease may exhibit relatively mild symptoms, it still can interfere with work and your personal life. Medications that treat the disease can sometimes end up causing other problems.

Many Crohn?s patients were found to be eating a similar diet ? lots of refined sugars, less dietary fiber, less raw fruits and vegetables. The trouble is that sugary foods tend to contain chemical additives that influence intestinal bacteria, causing them to produce toxic substances that end up, over time, destroying the intestinal lining. This is the reason sugary foods should be avoided (or limited) by Crohn?s patients.

Seasonings as well as cold liquid are also not well tolerated. It?s also common for a milk sugar mal-absorption to cause milk intolerance in most Crohn?s patients. Crohn?s disease is also believed to be responsible for providing favorable conditions where substances that produce allergic reaction can develop, especially if the Crohn?s has penetrated the lining of the bowel.

If you suspect you have Crohn?s disease, you should first consult your primary care physician before taking other steps. Careful diagnosis and monitoring are the key to living comfortably with Crohn?s.