Crohn’s disease is named for Dr. Burril Crohn
who, with his colleagues, first described the disease in
1932.
Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the digestive
system, however, it develops most often in the
section of the small intestine just before the large
intestine begins.
This region is called the ileum, and
Crohn’s disease that develops there is sometimes
called ileitus. The other common site for Crohn’s disease
is in the colon or large intestine.
Crohn’s disease is one of several inflammatory
bowel diseases. In can be mistaken for ulcerative colitis.
Both these diseases cause watery diarrhea or
bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps or pain.
However,
ulcerative colitis affects only the layer of cells that
line the intestine forming sores or ulcers on this surface.
Crohn’s disease begins in these same surface cells,
but eats its way inward, damaging all four layers of the
intestine and sometimes creating a hole (fistula)
through the intestine and into other tissue.
Another
major difference between Crohn’s disease and ulcerative
colitis is that Crohn’s disease can develop simultaneously
in several spots in the digestive tract,
resulting in areas of damaged with patches with
healthy tissue in between. Ulcerative colitis, on the
other hand, spreads uniformly across an area.
Crohn’s
disease is somewhat treatable, but not curable, and
can cause many complications beyond the digestive
system. Eventually in Crohn’s disease the walls of the
intestine thicken and blockages may occur that can
only be corrected by surgery.
