Crohn's Disease

First described by Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771). John Berg in 1898 by Polish surgeon Antoni and in 1904 described Leniowski more cases of the disease. Already in the twentieth century (1932) information was published again by American gastroenterologist Burrill Bernard Crohn (New York, June 13, 1884 - Connecticut, July 29, 1983) and its name comes from the biggest name in this pathology. Crohn's Disease is included, along with ulcerative colitis, in the so-called inflammatory bowel disease. It is a genetically based chronic disease that occurs when the immune system loses tolerance to the patient's own intestinal flora, leading to an abnormal inflammatory response and perpetuated over time. The results are inflammation and ulceration in different areas of the digestive tract causing symptoms. The disease progresses as unpredictable and variable outbreaks throughout life, and severity of symptoms varies depending on the degree of bowel involvement and response to treatment assignment.

Cause

Although the exact cause of Crohn's disease is unknown, the condition is linked to a problem with the response of the body's immune system. Normally, the immune system helps protect the body, but in patients with Crohn's disease and other types of inflammatory bowel disease, the immune system can not tell the difference between good substances and foreign invaders. The result is an overactive immune response that leads to chronic inflammation, called an autoimmune disorder. A person's genes and environmental factors appear to play a role in the development of Crohn's disease. The body may be overreacting to normal bacteria in the intestines. There is a theory that position on the incidence of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) as the cause of the disease.

Symptoms

The doctor may suspect Crohn's disease in any person presenting as abdominal pain symptoms of recurrent cramping and diarrhea, particularly if you also joint inflammation, eye and skin. No laboratory test specifically identifies the disease, although they may reveal anemia, an abnormally high number of white blood cells, low levels of albumin and other signs of inflammation.

Diagnosis

pain The barium enema x-rays may show the characteristic appearance of Crohn's disease in the colon. In unclear cases, colonoscopy and biopsy can help confirm this. There are 5 different types of Crohn's disease; Ileocolitis is the most common form that affects the lower small intestine (ileum) and large intestine (colon). Ileitis affects the ileum. Gastroduodenal Crohn's disease causes inflammation in the stomach and duodenum. Jejunoileitis causes patches of inflammation in the upper half of the small intestine (jejunum) and Crohn's colitis (granulomatous) only affects the small intestine. The disease can occur at any age but usually occurs in people between 15 and 35 years and over 55. Diagnosis is difficult because symptoms similar to those of other diseases of the digestive tract: abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, fever, general malaise.

Treatment

Crohn's disease surgery Crohn's disease presents several treatment options. First, SSSE choose to use corticosteroids and immunosuppressant and biological drugs to control the inflammation process and prevent disease complications such as stenosis (narrowing of the lumen) or fistulas (communications from the intestinal lumen to other organs: intestine , bladder, vagina, skin) However, over the course of the disease up to 70% of severe patients require surgery for failure of the drug strategy, to remove segments affected by the disease. Sometimes it is necessary to perform the removal of the entire colon which leads to a significant impairment of the function of absorption of nutrients by the intestine. For this reason, currently being developed new treatments with a great perspective of success for those patients in whom there is no solution so far.