Crohns Disease Cures

What is Crohn’s Disease
by Sandra Oertell, Guest Editor

More and more often we are hearing about Crohn’s. Either it is occurring more often than it has in the past, or it is getting better publicity, or simply is now more easily recognized and correctly diagnosed than it has been in the past. So, what is Crohn’s disease, anyway?

It is an inflammatory bowel disease, also known as IBD, that inflames the lining of your digestive system, causing severe pain in the abdomen and diarrhea that gets so severe that it can cause malnutrition as well. Another IBD, ulcerative colitis, is similar to Crohn’s, but doesn’t seem to spread deeply into the bowel tissues the way Crohn’s does. It is tricky to diagnose, because of similarities in the early symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and colitis.

This horrid disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus, though it is most frequently found first in the ileum, or lower reaches of the small intestine. The constant emptying of the intestines causes pain and diarrhea.

There are several Crohn’s disease symptoms to watch out for. It does appear to run in families about 20% of the time, so if anyone else in your familial history had it, be on the lookout for these symptoms. Usually it hits between the ages of twenty and thirty, but can occur at any age. People who have Jewish heritage seem more prone to getting it than others, and those of African descent are less likely to get it.

If you are losing weight and have no appetite, are suffering from abdominal pain and cramping, blood in your stool, along with diarrhea, see your physician, and get it checked out. But you might also have a fever, fatigue, or ulcers (both on the bowel and in your mouth). What is Crohn’s disease? It is a miserable disease that can exacerbate your arthritis, inflame your eyes, give you skin disorders, and inflame the bile ducts of the liver.

Crohn’s disease, also known as ileitis or enteritis literally makes its victims afraid to eat. Is there such a thing as a Crohn’s disease diet? It is easier to look at the foods you have to avoid, since there are so many. Unfortunately, the foods you shouldn’t eat vary from person to person, so you need to keep a diary of what foods you ate that seemed to trigger the problem.

Therefore, this following list is merely a suggestion of where to start for eliminating dangerous foods from your diet. In other words, they are foods that commonly (but not always) trigger diarrhea and cramping in many Crohn’s patients:

• Drinking carbonated beverages, mixed drinks, beer, coffee, tea, chocolate, and milk if you are lactose intolerant. This pretty much leaves water and juices, but only if they have been cooked first.
• Any fatty foods, including butter, margarine, oils, mayonnaise, fried foods, peanut butter, and nuts.
• Any foods high in fiber or containing bran or whole grains.
• Raw fruits and vegetables
• Red meat, pork, and dairy products if you are lactose intolerant.
• Spicy foods, seeds, and gassy foods (such as beans, cabbage, onion, lentils, broccoli, legumes).

What is Crohn’s disease? It is truly miserable, but don’t give up…sometimes trying a different preparation (steam instead of boil) will be tolerated better by your system.

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