Crohn's disease

What is Crohn Disease?

Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease where the lining of the large intestine and the rectum is affected with chronic inflammation and sores, or ulcers.

This damages the intestines and can lead to reduced absorption of nutrients (malabsorption).

This disease causes attacks of bloody diarrhea that can come and go.

Crohn's disease can affect any portion of the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus, but it most commonly involves the lowest portion of the small intestine (the ileum).

The cause of Crohn's disease is not known, but may run in families. It may occur at any age, but is rare before the age of 7 and is most commonly seen in young adults between the ages of 20 and 30.

Crohn's disease is more common in people who are Jewish and less common in African Americans.

Treatment / What you should do

If you think your child may have Crohn's disease, you should see a doctor. The doctor may decide to run a series of tests, such as blood tests and x-ray examinations.

The doctor may also recommend a procedure such as colonoscopy, looking directly inside the intestine with special cameras using a flexible instrument called a colonoscope. During these procedures, samples of the bowel wall (biopsies) can be taken to confirm the diagnosis of Crohn's disease.

If the tests confirm the diagnosis of Crohn's disease, your child will be given anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive medicines to quiet the inflammation and treat the symptoms.

For severe flare-ups of the disease, hospitalization may be necessary in order to give the child medication and nutrition intravenously for a period of time. In case of severe bleeding, the child may also need a blood transfusion. If the medications do not reduce the inflammation well enough, it must be decided whether the most affected areas of the bowels should be removed with surgery.

Prevention

Because we do not know what causes Crohn's disease, it is not possible to prevent the disease itself.

Children with Crohn's disease may have flare-ups again and again that may become worse each time. To prevent complications, it is important that you follow the course of your child's disease and contact a doctor quickly if the disease worsens.

A gastroenterologist, who is a specialist in children's bowel diseases, should check children with Crohn's disease regularly. Children must take any medicines that are prescribed and try to avoid flare-ups of the disease. Ensure that the child receives good nutrition. Consult a nutritionist for help with this.