Everything you need to know about Crohn's Disease

Crohn’s Disease is a condition that causes inflammation and ulceration of the digestive system, it can affect anything from your mouth, all the way down to your bum, and everything in between. (Mouth, Oesophagus, Stomach, Liver, Gallbladder, Pancreas, Small Intestine, Ileum, Large Intestine, Colon, Rectum, Anus).

The cause of Crohn’s Disease is primarily genetics but can be more likely as a result of a problem with the immune system (the body's defence against infection) that causes it to attack the digestive system, a previous stomach bug, an abnormal balance of gut bacteria, smoking and use of antibiotics. Both Diet and Stress are proven not to be the cause of IBD but are thought to trigger flare ups.

The main symptoms of Crohn's Disease are:

• Abdominal pain

• Blood and mucus in stool

• Fast weight loss

• Going to the toilet more than 5 times in 24 hours – or more than is normal for you

• Loose stool or diarrhoea

• Extreme Fatigue and tiredness
  

As of right now, there is still no known cure for Crohn's disease, and so it is classed as a Chronic Illness because those who are diagnosed will live with it for their entire lives, Doctors use drugs, and sometimes surgery, to give relief from symptoms. Patients have periods of good health, when they aren't suffering from symptoms which is called remission. However this doesn't always last and patients relapse and flare up, which is when symptoms are at their worst, this may be as a result of ineffective treatment, a food triggering a flare up, a very stressful event putting your body under pressure or just genetic factors.

Everybody's Crohn's is different and so there is no one treatment that works for everyone, and there is no way of determining what will trigger everyone's flares. Some Crohn's fighters experience only a few flare ups in their lives and find a treatment that works straight away and they tend to live pretty normal lives barring their periods of relapse. But other Crohn's fighters may be constantly in flare ups, require surgery and not respond to any treatment and hence their lives are far more impacted. But for all Crohns fighters Mental Health is a struggle as the disease can feel out of your control and very unpredictable, one day you could be absolutely fine and overnight you could flare upm it can stop you in your tracks and cancel your plans immediately. There has been recent research that has found a direct link between the gut and mind, which makes the importance of looking after mental health in Crohn's patients massive in order to lessen the chance of relapse and increase the likelihood of remission.