Crohn’s Disease
Essay title: Crohn’s Disease
Inflammatory bowel disease affects about one million Americans. Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis are both types of irritable bowel disease, or IBD. Crohns disease is an ongoing illness that creates inflammation in the walls of the digestive tract. It can affect any area of the gastrointestinal tract (GI), from the mouth to the anus. Although it can be found along any part of the GI tract, it is most commonly detected in the small intestine. This paper will highlight the history, causes, dietary effects, prevention, and cures of Crohns disease.
Its namesake, Dr. Burrill B. Crohn, and two colleagues discovered the illness in 1932 (
Crohns disease affects the organs located within the digestive tract system that consists of the esophagus, stomach, large intestine or colon, small intestine or ileum, rectum, and the anus. The digestive system and its accessory organs are used to process food into molecules that can be absorbed and utilized by the cells of the body. Once the food is broken down it then goes through a three-step process within the body, which consists of digestion, absorption, and elimination. Once the nutrients have been absorbed, they are available to all cells in the body and are utilized by the body cells in the metabolism. However, an individual with Crohns disease has an immune system that reacts inappropriately to this process. Their immune system takes the nutrients absorbed from foods and treats them as a foreign substance and launches an attack. This attack causes many problems in the body, although, no one knows the exact causes of this disease.
Due to the slow progress in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, or IBD, scientists have not found a causal factor for this disease. Scientists believe that this disease can be caused by poor genetics. If one member in a family is found to have Crohns Disease, chances are that many other family members have it as well. Genetics definitely play a role in this disease. Studies have shown that about twenty to twenty-five percent of patients may have a close relative with either Crohns or ulcerative colitis. If a person has a relative with the disease, the risk for that person to find that they too have Crohns Disease is about ten times greater than that of the general population. If that relative happens to be a brother or sister, the risk is thirty times greater. Scientists also believe that adjusting to a new environment can cause this disease. Soldiers overseas have to adjust to new climates as well as different living conditions. Soldiers in the first tour had to burn all human waste by adding gasoline to the cans where the feces were, and leave until it turns to ashes. This act of disposal often results in the release of an airborne virus. The affects of this airborne virus vary depending on the type of immune system one has. For reasons that are not yet clearly understood, Inflammatory Bowel Disease is largely a disease of the developed world, and is found principally in the United States and Europe. Similarly, Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis are reported to be more common in urban areas than in rural areas. Disease increases when people move from underdeveloped