Crohn’s is a very serious condition causing inflammation that affects a person’s guts. This could start from the mouth, throat, stomach, go down to the gut and anus.
The most common form of this disease affects the lower parts of the small intestine and large intestine. The effects look like an allergic reaction.
Unlike an allergy attack, this does not go away quickly but can last for a long time. It may even last for the rest of a patient’s life.
A person suffering from Crohn’s often have the following symptoms:
- Pain: The level of pain depends on the location of the inflammation and how severe the condition is. Most commonly, the pain will be felt at the lower-right side of the abdomen.
When the inflammation has already leaked through the bowel walls, the inflammation will spread to other organs. And it is expected to be very painful in these severe cases. - Ulcers in the gut: Ulcers are raw areas in the gut wall that the inflammation had “eaten” through. These may bleed. If they do bleed, the patient might notice blood in their stools. Old ulcers many times form a “dried” scab from blood and secretions. These ulcers will not bleed, and the way to identify it is to have an Occult blood test.
- Mouth ulcers: These sometimes occur on the inside of the mouth. Ulcers appear like reddish, round, or oval sores near the bottom of the gums or the inside of the lips or cheeks. These are also called “aphthous ulcers” or sometimes as “canker sores.”
- Diarrhea / constipation: This symptom could be mild to severe (when the person needs to be hospitalized). Sometimes there may be mucus, blood, or pus. The patient may get the urge to go but find nothing comes out.
- Fatigue: Individuals often feel extremely tired. Fever is also possible during fatigue.
Some people can’t get out of bed. - Poor appetite: if the digestive system is badly affected, then the patient will lose his appetite.
The person associates pain with food and refrains from eating. - Weight loss: A loss of appetite after a long time will result in this. Children will stop growing.
- Anemia: Severe ulcers can lead to a loss of blood and then to anemia.
- Rectal bleeding and anal fissures: The skin of the anus becomes cracked, leading to pain and bleeding.
- Other possible symptoms: arthritis, uveitis (eye inflammation), skin rash.
If left untreated, the patient will not be able to carry out daily living. Many times this can lead to emotional stress and depression. Sometimes, it can bring life-threatening complications.
Crohn’s origin is still not completely known. There are several theories proposed. Most accepted by the medical world is that it happens because of the patient’s immune system which begins to act abnormally. The immune system which defends the body against microbial infection and cancerous cells begins to attack even healthy tissues. This causes damage to the patient’s digestive system.
As such, Anti-inflammatory drugs are often the first line to tackle the disease. These are used to lessen the inflammation and pain felt by the patient (relieving the symptoms only).
Drugs that reduce the patient’s immune system operation are used as well to try and prevent it from attacking healthy digestive tissues.
A new theory called the “Bacterial Penetration Cycle” brings hope to Crohn’s patients. It stats that the root cause of Crohn’s disease is certain bacteria types that can attach to the intestine walls. The immune system is responding to their presence as it should – causing inflammation. These bacteria reach our intestines through the food we eat. So, every person should detect which food type carries those bacteria into his bowel – and avoid it to get permanent remission.
In the “Crohn remission” booklet we bring “detective protocol” to find which food types enter abnormal bacteria into Crohn patients’ bodies. Avoiding this food can bring permanent remission to those people.
