Crohns Disease Essay

I was a 14 year old freshman in high school when I started getting sick. I was always a pretty healthy kid who had perfect attendance records UNTIL that year. The extreme fatigue and weight-loss was the main sign to my mom that something was seriously wrong. Around January of 2010 I had a colonoscopy to confirm what my doctor already believed. I have Crohn’s Disease.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It causes inflammation of the lining of your digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea and even malnutrition. Inflammation caused by Crohn's disease can involve different areas of the digestive tract in different people. The inflammation caused by Crohn's disease often spreads deep into the layers of affected bowel tissue. Like ulcerative colitis, another common IBD, Crohn's disease can be both painful and debilitating, and sometimes may lead to life-threatening complications. Although it may involve any part of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus, it most commonly affects the last part of the small intestine (ileum) and/or the large

| | |friends about the changes it may have on their life. Getting an early diagnosis also enables an |

An inflammatory bowel disease is characterized by intermittent and recurrent abdominal pain associated with ulceration in bowel function. Inflammatory bowel disease is a group of chronic disorders that cause inflammation or ulceration in the small and large intestines. Most often, inflammatory bowel disease is classified as ulceration colitis or Crohn’s disease but may be referred to as colitis, enteritis, ileitis, or proctitis (Crohn's disease-website).

Crohn 's disease is one of two conditions referred to by the term "Inflammatory Bowel Disease" (IBD). The other condition that is referred to as an IBD is called Ulcerative Colitis. Both Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis are conditions that cause recurring or persistent inflammation in one or more sections of the intestine. The literal definition of "inflammation" is "being set on fire". It is a protective reaction that happens when tissue is injured or destroyed. There are two types of inflammations. The first is acute inflammation, which is defined by heat, redness, pain and swelling. The

It is important that they get enough calories, protein, and essential nutrients from a variety of food groups. The patient needs to eat smaller meals, and eat more often and need to drink plenty of liquids. The doctor may prescribe drugs that will help relieve the patient's symptoms such as anti-diarrhea drugs, fiber supplements, and pain medications. To help manage the patient's Crohn's disease is to join a support group and exercise. Also trying biofeedback to reduce muscle tension, deep breathing exercises, listening to music, and other ways to relax.

Dealing with Crohn’s Disease is similar to standing on the side of an Olympic-sized swimming pool with a cinderblock attached to your feet. When it is flaring up, it feels as if the cinderblock has been kicked inside the pool, you’re constantly trying to swim upwards to try and get a breath. The depression will weigh you down, the pain will weigh you down, the self-doubt will weigh you down. If you’re given a life raft, you take

As I entered my freshman year of high school, I prided myself on never being sick. Sure, I got a head cold every now and then but I had not had a stomach bug since the second grade. In November of 2013, I began experiencing what turned into a daily migraine, that would have no relief until January of 2016 when I went 30 minutes without a headache. Soon other medical ailments, including orthostatic intolerance and cyclical vomiting, went alongside these headaches. About two years later, I was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder which is paired with dysautonomia. Although this was the most frustrating time of my life, it was also the most rewarding.

Crohn’s Disease was named after an American gastroenterologist, Dr. Burrill Bernard Crohn, in 1932. He and his colleagues discovered an abnormal pathogen, Mycobacterium paratuberculosis while studying a related disease, ulcerative colitis, which belongs to a larger group if illnesses called Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The discovery was made while studying the effects of ulcerative colitis in cattle and noticing the similar characteristics in humans. The infections had an abnormal response with the body’s immune system in both the cattle and humans.

Lauren Page is 28 years old. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when she was 24 going on 25 years old and was hospitalized during her birthday week. Her breaking point was when she could not take the pain any longer. Lauren had a fever of 104.5 and unbearable abdomen pain. She had also contracted an infection in her bloodstream from developing a fistula from her vagina to her rectum. They luckily were able to do surgery to correct her fistula. She had a multitude of tests including: blood work, stool samples, CT scans, MRI, X-rays, a balloon test, endoscopy and countless colonoscopies. Lauren’s disease is located in her large intestines. Chron’s disease is not apart of Lauren’s family so she was clueless to what it was when she was diagnosed. It took about a month until they were completely certain that it was Crohn’s disease.

Crohn’s disease is a chronic condition that affects a person’s digestive system with no known cause. When Crohn’s disease strikes, it can affect any part of your digestive system ranging from your mouth, all the way to your anus. Crohn’s disease is chronic and there is no known cure for this condition. So basically, once someone is diagnosed with this condition, they might as well get used to living out the remainder of their life being affected by Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s is not, shall we say, “constant”. The symptoms happen on and off in what are usually called “flare-ups”.

Addison’s Disease goes unnoticed in a lot of people. Addison’s is sometimes called the uncommon common disease because people are walking around with it but the symptoms are so closely associated with other illnesses, go undetected. Knowledgeable professionals are even hard to find. People knowing living with Addison’s Disease are constantly in fear not knowing if they were to go in a crisis, who would have enough knowledge about the disease to assist. Yes, most first responders, ER staff, physicians’ offices, are clueless. There just isn’t enough information to about this disease to help people with it which is why I chose to be an advocate. My wife has the uncommon common disease and immediately our lives would change. I won’t say it was for worse nor will I say for good, it’s just changed. There are all kind of foundations out there trying to raise awareness of this disease but they are mainly in the larger areas and major hospitals. I want as many people as possible to know about this disease that really does makes it “impossible” to get out of bed, to know about this disease that makes you feel “sick as a dog”. I hope to help at least one person know more about this disease each day. Let’s raise awareness.

especially in the colon. This drug can be used for as long as needed, and it

The term Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a general name given to a few disorders that all fall under the category of inflamed intestines (they become red and swollen.) This is usually due to a reaction the body causes against its own intestinal tissue. The two most common types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease are Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD). Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract; however, it more commonly affects the small intestine or colon.

are diagnosed with this disease are mostly flabbergasted with pain of the heart and disbelief. The