Crohn’s disease symptoms and treatment
It really important to know Crohn’s disease symptoms and available treatment methods, since this disease not easy to recognize.
In some medical disorders there are no bacteria or viruses involved. Matter of fact there is no external factor that causes such problems but what turns out is that body is harming itself.
Such hostile diseases are called autoimmune diseases in which the immune system of the body starts attacking the body’s tissue. There is no specific reason as to why does this happens and a lot of research is required before doctors can reach to a final conclusion.
Since the cause of such disorder is not known, this disease is also classified with the ones which cannot be cured such as cancer and AIDS. Unfortunately there are no surgical procedures or pharmaceutical drugs that can cure autoimmune diseases.
What is Crohn’s disease symptoms and treatment
One such hard to tackle autoimmune disease of gastrointestinal tract is Crohn’s disease. Due to many parts of gastrointestinal tract, this disease can be seen at any location throughout gut, but many studies have shown that there are three parts most vulnerable to this disorder.
During research it was noted that 30% patient complained about their ileum, 20% were diagnosed with affected colon, and 50% were suffering from ileocolic Crohn’s disease. In this type, both colon and ileum are affected by this destructive phenomenon.
Crohn’s disease is more common in relative of the patient already suffering from Crohn’s disease. Familial tendencies have been shown to acquire this disease.
Early symptoms of Crohn’s disease
The symptoms of a Crohn’s disease are classified into different categories. The general Crohn’s disease symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea which can be bloody if inflammation is worst, weight loss due to malnutrition and abdominal pain.
Beside gastrointestinal diseases, one may also notice other Crohn’s disease symptoms such as skin rashes, inflammation in the eye, lack of concentration, tiredness and joint pain. Crohn’s disease being a gastrointestinal disorder creates a lot of destruction in its specific sight.
The nature of diarrhea varies depending upon the part of gastrointestinal tract dealing with the disease as it may be bloody or the patient may have to defecate in short episodes throughout the day, one of the specific symptoms of Crohn’s disease is that the patient feels the need to defecate during night while he is asleep.
This disease can also cause intestinal stenosis which is narrowing of a vessel or tube that may result in blockage.
Therefore one can also experience different symptoms due to intestinal stenosis which may result in constant vomiting and constipation. Perineum can be in high discomfort due to inflammation of hip joint and the surrounding areas.
There can be increased itching around anus due to inflammation. On the other end of the tract, mouth can have non-healing sores and if this disease has affected esophagus or upper part of the gut, then swallowing can be painful that may be followed by vomiting.
High fever can also be a symptom. Crohn’s disease can also affect many other organs as it can cause inflammation in the eye, can cause arthritis of large joints like shoulders and knees, and may also affect small joints, like those of hands. Skin diseases are also a symptom of this disease and there are 15% cases that have shown neurological disorders.
Treatment for Crohns disease
Usually the treatment of this disease depends mainly upon the severity of the symptoms. Patients having low to mild symptoms may not need any medical treatment, plus that patient who is with the disease but is not showing any symptoms also does not require any medication.
As mentioned earlier that there is not external cause and there is no specific cause known that triggers this disease, therefore there is no specific medical treatment to cure a person of it. A person suffering from this disease goes through the periods of worsened inflammation (relapse) and then the period when inflammation becomes less (remission).
Main point of medication for Crohn’s disease is to decrease the period of relapse and prolong the period of remission, plus to minimize the side effects of medication to provide the patient with better quality of life. The medication for this disease includes antibiotics, anti-inflammatory agents and immune-modulators.
Selection of treatment varies according to severity of Crohn’s disease symptoms. First clinical remission is induced which takes effect in 2 to 4 weeks and later that remission is continued through medication which takes effect in 12 to 16 weeks.
Please check second part of this article with additional Crohn’s disease symptoms.
Tags: crohns disease signs, crones disease