subject: Day 3- Ibs Diet Crohns Colitis Disease Symptoms & Treatment [print this page] Crohn's Disease, What it is Crohn's Disease, What it is
Crohn's disease is an autoimmune disease similar to rheumatoid arthritis. It is rarely fatal. However it is often debilitating and sometimes very painful. Lately, doctors and scientists have taken to using food and diet as a means of controlling this chronic situation. Discover why something as simple as changing your diet may be the answer to curing Crohn's disease.
Researchers believe that Crohn's results from a reaction to a virus or a chronic condition such as arthritis. With Crohn's your own body is the enemy because it generates the conditions necessary to cause flare-ups. These flare-ups can occur anywhere up and down the esophagus to the rectum, in other words up and down the entire gastrointestinal tract. That makes it different from other irritable bowel or gastrointestinal diseases which only affect certain parts of the GI track. These ordinary conditions are also usually not accompanied by the redness and swelling that is found with Crohn's disease.
The redness and swelling is often accompanied by severe abdominal cramping and frequent bowel movements, diarrhea and over all fatigue. Some doctors believe that stress plays a heavy role in the severity of the symptoms, and may be unmasked, down the road as one of the underlying causes of the disease.
A person can contract Crohn's disease at any age. However, most sufferers seem to be between the ages of 15 and 30 at their initial diagnosis. It is not clear why, but white women seem to be the most susceptible to the disease. Crohn's has also been known to flare-up much later in life, usually along with other age related conditions.
Today's treatment plans include a change of diet as well as an increase in exercise. These changes can be difficult at first, but must be strictly adhered to, if there is to be any success in controlling the flare-ups. Crohn's is known to go into remission, at times or maybe better words to describe would be cyclical in nature, meaning that Crohn's will come and go, but never really leave.
During active times, parts of the intestinal walls become inflamed making normal defecation and elimination very, very painful. Sometimes over the counter drugs from diarrhea and constipation may give some relief, for a short time. However, these over the counter drugs are not cures or permanent relief. There is no known cure for Crohn's disease. Once you've seen a doctor, the next step is to find a support group or go online to find up to date information on the latest treatments, diets and research.
Understand that your symptoms may cause complications in other medical conditions. Staying hydrated will help, as will staying active with exercise in order to combat the constant fatigue and fibromyalgia or pain. Getting the right amount of rest is also important in living with this chronic condition. Ask your doctor for the names of several nutritionists who will help you to understand the correlations between chronic diseases and the foods that we consume. Many researchers suspect that most chronic illness is the result of what we ingest. Many doctors are in fact, switching their patients to raw food diets as a means of curing chronic conditions such as Crohn's disease.
