Crohn’s disease is a chronic disease that causes inflammation and irritation in your digestive tract. Most commonly, Crohn’s affects your small intestine and the beginning of your large intestine. However, the disease can affect any part of your digestive tract, from your mouth to your anus.
Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Ulcerative colitis and microscopic colitis are other common types of IBD.
Crohn’s disease most often begins gradually and can become worse over time. You may have periods of remission that can last for weeks or years.
Researchers estimate that more than half a million people in the United States have Crohn’s disease. Studies show that, over time, Crohn’s disease has become more common in the United States and other parts of the world. Experts do not know the reason for this increase.
Crohn’s disease can develop in people of any age and is more likely to develop in people
Complications of Crohn’s disease can include the following:
If you have Crohn’s disease in your large intestine, you may be more likely to develop colon cancer. If you receive ongoing treatment for Crohn’s disease and stay in remission, you may reduce your chances of developing colon cancer.3
Talk with your doctor about how often you should get screened for colon cancer. Screening is testing for diseases when you have no symptoms. Screening for colon cancer can include colonoscopy with biopsies. Although screening does not reduce your chances of developing colon cancer, it may help to find cancer at an early stage and improve the chance of curing the cancer
The most common symptoms of Crohn’s disease are
Other symptoms include
Your symptoms may vary depending on the location and severity of your inflammation.
Some research suggests that stress, including the stress of living with Crohn’s disease, can make symptoms worse. Also, some people may find that certain foods can trigger or worsen their symptoms.
Doctors aren’t sure what causes Crohn’s disease. Experts think the following factors may play a role in causing Crohn’s disease.
One cause of Crohn’s disease may be an autoimmune reaction—when your immune system attacks healthy cells in your body. Experts think bacteria in your digestive tract can mistakenly trigger your immune system. This immune system response causes inflammation, leading to symptoms of Crohn’s disease.
Crohn’s disease sometimes runs in families. Research has shown that if you have a parent or sibling with Crohn’s disease, you may be more likely to develop the disease. Experts continue to study the link between genes and Crohn’s disease.
Some studies suggest that other factors may increase your chance of developing Crohn’s disease:
Stress and eating certain foods do not cause Crohn’s disease.
Doctors typically use a combination of tests to diagnose Crohn’s disease. Your doctor will also ask you about your medical history—including medicines you are taking—and your family history and will perform a physical exam.
During a physical exam, a doctor most often
Your doctor may use the following tests to help diagnose Crohn’s disease:
Your doctor may also perform tests to rule out other diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, diverticular disease, or cancer, that cause symptoms similar to those of Crohn’s disease.
Your doctor may perform the following tests to help diagnose Crohn’s disease.
Lab tests to help diagnose Crohn’s disease include:
Blood tests. A health care professional may take a blood sample from you and send the sample to a lab to test for changes in
Stool tests. A stool test is the analysis of a sample of stool. Your doctor will give you a container for catching and storing the stool. You will receive instructions on where to send or take the kit for analysis. Doctors use stool tests to rule out other causes of digestive diseases.
Intestinal endoscopies are the most accurate methods for diagnosing Crohn’s disease and ruling out other possible conditions, such as ulcerative colitis, diverticular disease, or cancer. Intestinal endoscopies include the following:
Colonoscopy. Colonoscopy is a procedure in which a doctor uses a long, flexible, narrow tube with a light and tiny camera on one end, called a colonoscope or endoscope, to look inside your rectum and colon. The doctor may also examine your ileum to look for signs of Crohn’s disease.
A trained specialist performs a colonoscopy in a hospital or an outpatient center. A health care professional will give you written bowel prep instructions to follow at home before the procedure. You will receive sedatives, anesthesia, or pain medicine during the procedure.
During a colonoscopy, you’ll be asked to lie on a table while the doctor inserts a colonoscope into your anus and slowly guides it through your rectum and colon and into the lower part of your ileum. If your doctor suspects that you have Crohn’s disease, the colonoscopy will include biopsies of your ileum, colon, and rectum. You won’t feel the biopsies.
Upper GI endoscopy and enteroscopy. In an upper GI endoscopy, your doctor uses an endoscope to see inside your upper digestive tract, also called your upper GI tract.
A trained specialist performs the procedure at a hospital or an outpatient center. You should not eat or drink before the procedure. A health care professional will tell you how to prepare for an upper GI endoscopy. You most often receive a liquid anesthetic to numb your throat and a light sedative to help you stay relaxed and comfortable during the procedure.
During the procedure, the doctor carefully feeds the endoscope down your esophagus and into your stomach and duodenum.
During an enteroscopy, a doctor examines your small intestine with a special, longer endoscope using one of the following procedures:
Capsule endoscopy. In capsule endoscopy, you swallow a capsule containing a tiny camera that allows your doctor to see inside your digestive tract. You should not eat or drink before the procedure. A health care professional will tell you how to prepare for a capsule endoscopy. You don’t need anesthesia for this procedure.
The test begins in a doctor’s office, where you swallow the capsule. You can leave the doctor’s office during the test. As the capsule passes through your digestive tract, the camera will record and transmit images to a small receiver device that you wear. When the recording is done, your doctor downloads and reviews the images. The camera capsule leaves your body during a bowel movement, and you can safely flush it down the toilet.
An upper GI series is a procedure in which a doctor uses x-rays, fluoroscopy, and a chalky liquid called barium to view your upper GI tract.
An x-ray technician and a radiologist perform this test at a hospital or an outpatient center. You should not eat or drink before the procedure. A health care professional will tell you how to prepare for an upper GI series. You don’t need anesthesia for this procedure.
For the procedure, you’ll be asked to stand or sit in front of an x-ray machine and drink barium. The barium will make your upper GI tract more visible on an x-ray. You will then lie on the x-ray table, and the radiologist will watch the barium move through your upper GI tract on the x-ray and fluoroscopy.
A CT scan uses a combination of x-rays and computer technology to create images of your digestive tract.
For a CT scan, a health care professional may give you a solution to drink and an injection of a special dye, called contrast medium. Contrast medium makes the structures inside your body easier to see during the procedure. You’ll lie on a table that slides into a tunnel-shaped device that takes the x-rays. CT scans can diagnose both Crohn’s disease and the complications of the disease.
Doctors treat Crohn’s disease with medicines, bowel rest, and surgery.
No single treatment works for everyone with Crohn’s disease. The goals of treatment are to decrease the inflammation in your intestines, to prevent flare-ups of your symptoms, and to keep you in remission.
Many people with Crohn’s disease need medicines. Which medicines your doctor prescribes will depend on your symptoms.
Although no medicine cures Crohn’s disease, many can reduce symptoms.
Aminosalicylates. These medicines contain 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), which helps control inflammation. Doctors use aminosalicylates to treat people newly diagnosed with Crohn’s disease who have mild symptoms. Aminosalicylates include
Some of the common side effects of aminosalicylates include
Corticosteroids. Corticosteroids, also known as steroids, help reduce the activity of your immune system and decrease inflammation. Doctors prescribe corticosteroids for people with moderate to severe symptoms. Corticosteroids include
Side effects of corticosteroids include
In most cases, doctors do not prescribe corticosteroids for long-term use.
Immunomodulators. These medicines reduce immune system activity, resulting in less inflammation in your digestive tract. Immunomodulators can take several weeks to 3 months to start working. Immunomodulators include
Doctors prescribe these medicines to help you go into remission or help you if you do not respond to other treatments. You may have the following side effects:
Doctors most often prescribe cyclosporine only if you have severe Crohn’s disease because of the medicine’s serious side effects. Talk with your doctor about the risks and benefits of cyclosporine.
Biologic therapies. These medicines target proteins made by the immune system. Neutralizing these proteins decreases inflammation in the intestines. Biologic therapies work to help you go into remission, especially if you do not respond to other medicines. Biologic therapies include
Doctors most often give patients infliximab every 6 to 8 weeks at a hospital or an outpatient center. Side effects may include a toxic reaction to the medicine and a higher chance of developing infections, particularly tuberculosis.
Other medicines. Other medicines doctors prescribe for symptoms or complications may include
If your Crohn’s disease symptoms are severe, you may need to rest your bowel for a few days to several weeks. Bowel rest involves drinking only certain liquids or not eating or drinking anything. During bowel rest, your doctor may
You may stay in the hospital, or you may be able to receive the treatment at home. In most cases, your intestines will heal during bowel rest.
Even with medicines, many people will need surgery to treat their Crohn’s disease. One study found that nearly 60 percent of people had surgery within 20 years of having Crohn’s disease.8 Although surgery will not cure Crohn’s disease, it can treat complications and improve symptoms. Doctors most often recommend surgery to treat
A surgeon can perform different types of operations to treat Crohn’s disease.
For any surgery, you will receive general anesthesia. You will most likely stay in the hospital for 3 to 7 days following the surgery. Full recovery may take 4 to 6 weeks.
Small bowel resection. Small bowel resection is surgery to remove part of your small intestine. When you have an intestinal obstruction or severe Crohn’s disease in your small intestine, a surgeon may need to remove that section of your intestine. The two types of small bowel resection are
Subtotal colectomy. A subtotal colectomy, also called a large bowel resection, is surgery to remove part of your large intestine. When you have an intestinal obstruction, a fistula, or severe Crohn’s disease in your large intestine, a surgeon may need to remove that section of intestine. A surgeon can perform a subtotal colectomy by
Proctocolectomy and ileostomy. A proctocolectomy is surgery to remove your entire colon and rectum. An ileostomy is a stoma, or opening in your abdomen, that a surgeon creates from a part of your ileum. The surgeon brings the end of your ileum through an opening in your abdomen and attaches it to your skin, creating an opening outside your body. The stoma is about three-quarters of an inch to a little less than 2 inches wide and is most often located in the lower part of your abdomen, just below the beltline.
A removable external collection pouch, called an ostomy pouch or ostomy appliance, connects to the stoma and collects stool outside your body. Stool passes through the stoma instead of passing through your anus. The stoma has no muscle, so it cannot control the flow of stool, and the flow occurs whenever occurs.
If you have this type of surgery, you will have the ileostomy for the rest of your life.
Your doctor may recommend treatments for the following complications of Crohn’s disease:
Changing your diet can help reduce symptoms. Your doctor may recommend that you make changes to your diet such as
Depending on your symptoms or medicines, your doctor may recommend a specific diet, such as a diet that is
Talk with your doctor about specific dietary recommendations and changes.
Your doctor may recommend nutritional supplements and vitamins if you do not absorb enough nutrients. For safety reasons, talk with your doctor before using dietary supplements, such as vitamins, or any complementary or alternative medicines or medical practices.
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and other components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conduct and support basic and clinical research into many digestive disorders.
Clinical trials are part of clinical research and at the heart of all medical advances. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Researchers also use clinical trials to look at other aspects of care, such as improving the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses. Find out if clinical trials are right for you
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