Breakthrough Crohn’s Disease Guide

Searching online is a great way to find information regarding crohns disease and the latest research and treatments. Although there is plenty of information on the blog which you’ll discover if your browse through it, there are other crohns disease websites out there which offer a different approach.

You should remember that not all sites are created equal, and that some have a lot of information that is questionable. You’ll be wanting to go sites that have information that is accurate and up to date, but you may not know what to look for when your surfing through the search engines.

One way to clarify the information you read is to print out the details you find that are interesting to you, and then present them to your doctor so that you can talk about what you have found. Alternatively, visit trusted sites with up to date information and resources. Here are some great sites to get you started in your search.

When you want current and reliable information about Crohn’s disease, you should visit http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/crohns-disease/DS00104  to see what they have to offer. This site is run by the Mayo Clinic and the information provided will help you understand what you need to know in words that you can understand, unlike some other medical sites that use a lot of medical terminology. This is definitely a great source, and an excellent place to start your search for information on the Internet.

If you are looking for a comprehensive list of references and information, one of the places you want to be sure to visit is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crohn’s_disease . If you don’t know what Wikipedia is, you will find that they are one of the quickest growing networks of solid information you can find online. The best thing about this page is that you can find a lot of great information, and you can also look down at the bottom to see where the information came from. The list of references is quite extensive.
 
If you’re under 18 or your child has crohn’s disease http://livingwithcrohnsdisease.com/ is a great site for children who have Crohn’s, and the parents that are caring for them. There is all sorts of information for you to read through, and you can find great information about finding support when you need it the most. They also have something called the Crohn’s Control Test. This might help you understand your condition and what treatment options you might want to discuss with your doctor.

If you are looking for information that comes from medical sources and government sources, you will want to visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/crohnsdisease.html. Here you will find a huge variety of topics relating to crohn’s disease that might be of great interest to you. You will find information about remedies, treatments, symptoms, flare-ups and remission, surgical options, information for children, sources of support, clinical trials, encouragement, and many other ideas that can help enrich your life.

Though you may find http://www.ccfa.org/ a bit harder to understand, there is still a lot of great, accurate information here that you might need to know. This is a good place to find more information, and also a great place to find doctor referrals and the latest news items related to Crohn’s, Colitis, and even Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Though this Crohn s disease website is a little more technical in terms of how the information is presented and harder to navigate, it has a wealth of great information for you.

Don’t forget to sign up for the free Crohn’s Disease Newsletter if you haven’t already done so and discover information covering what you can do if you develop an unexpected complication of crohn’ s disease.

Don’t forget to sign up for the free Crohn’s Disease Newsletter at our crohns disease website.

There are many different things that can happen to the body when a person is suffering from Crohn’s disease. Though there are some that are widely talked about, there are some that are not as common, and you might not have considered them. There are times when you might have problems with your eyes and your vision, and it might be a complication of Crohn ‘s disease. These are often not huge problems, and they will affect as little as ten percent of those who are living with this chronic condition. These problems can usually be cleared up with a little medical attention.

You will find that Uveitis is one of the most common eye problems reported by Crohn’s patients. This affects the middle layer of the wall of the eye called the Uvea, and the problem is much like it is elsewhere in the body. Inflammation can occur while the person is having a flare up of Crohn’s. This can lead to deteriorated vision, and in some rare cases, glaucoma. If it is not treated, it might lead to vision loss.

In most cases, this inflammation will go away when the other symptoms of Crohn’s go into remission, but a special eye drop of steroids might be needed to relieve the pressure. If you are experiencing reddened eyes, blurred vision, or pain and sensitivity to light that is normally tolerable, you should see your eye doctor at once.

Another eye problem linked to Crohn’s is dry eyes. This is very easy to fix if it is caught early enough. It generally happens because the body is not getting enough vitamin A. If left unchecked, there may be an eye infection that will need to be treated with antibiotics. This is normally rectified by using artificial tears, and also with a vitamin A supplement. If you are having problems seeing at night, notice that your eyes feel dry, or you experience itching and irritation, you should see your eye doctor for help.

Episcleritis is somewhat like Uveitis as it is inflammation in the eye. This happens in the whites of the eyes though, and the most common symptom you might notice is that your eyes appear to be red all of the time for no apparent reason. It will also happen when you are experiencing a flare up of your other symptoms. The redness is caused by the tiny blood vessels in your eye experiencing inflammation. This can also be treated by steroid eye drops, or will clear up with your other symptoms. You can also experience Keratopathy, an irregularity in the cornea, but because it is not painful and vision loss is usually not experienced no treatment is needed you may never know you have it.

Any complication of Crohn ‘s disease that relates to the eye should be treated at once. They should never cause permanent vision loss however, so you might not have to worry much beyond treatment. However, if permanent damage were to occur, you might want to talk to your doctor to see if LASIK eye surgery might help you with your vision problems. Although bear in mind that you will probably need to be in remission before any refractive surgery is carried out. If you are experiencing a flare up in your eyes, remember to do as your doctor says, and to avoid driving or doing anything else that might be dangerous if you have impaired vision.

Don’t forget to sign up for the free Crohn’s Disease Newsletter if you haven’t already and discover information covering what you can do if you develop an unexpected complication of crohn’ s disease.

It is estimated that up to 75% of those with Crohn’s disease will require surgery for their condition at least one time in their life, if not more. There are medications that can be taken to help with the symptoms, as well as diet modifications, stress relief, and some herbal remedies, but for some people these are not enough. When there are problems in the intestines that could be fatal if left untreated, Crohn’s disease surgery becomes a necessity. Though this is not considered a cure, it can greatly improve quality of life and even save a life.

Crohn’s can affect any part of the digestive system, but it most commonly appears somewhere along the intestines causing inflammation that impacts the functioning of the intestines. Where it is and how bad it is will help determine if surgery is necessary or not. There are many common occurrences that might require a patient to go under the knife, and most doctors want to help alleviate symptoms in other ways before they recommend that you have an operation. Some are simple and others are a bit more complicated, and can be life changing.

If intestinal blockage occurs, you may have no choice but to have the blockage removed. There may be times when you notice blood coming from the rectum during or after a bowel movement. When this happens, surgery may be needed to fix an abscess or a fistula (small tear or opening in the intestine wall). There may come a time when the lower intestine or colon area becomes perforated. Surgery will be required for those times. Any of these things can be problematic, but not all crohn’s patients will have to deal with it.

When a blockage occurs along the intestine, it can stop food from moving through. There is a surgery called strictureplasty that is used to deal with this specific problem, and these are usually done in the small intestine. This operation is intended to fix the problem and does not require any removal of intestine.

However, there are times when the blockage or other issue has to be solved by removing a section of the small intestine, and the two ends are then rejoined. In cases that involve the colon or large intestine, a proctocolectomy might be required. This is a total removal of the colon and the rectum. When that happens, the small intestine is often brought up and attached the abdominal wall, with the waste being passed though this opening into a bag. Doctors will avoid this if at all possible.

Many are afraid to go in for Crohn’s disease surgery, and they are often the ones that are suffering the most. If your doctor suggests that you need surgery, you should really give it serious consideration before you dismiss the idea. For some people there is no choice as not having the surgery could be life threatening.

Crohn’s disease surgery can often greatly improve quality of life. Talk with your doctor about your concerns and your hesitations so that you have a clearer picture of what surgery can do for you, and what the risk are if you do not get it done.

Find out more about crohn’s disease surgery, by signing up to my free Crohn’s Disease newsletter.

If you have Crohn’s disease, you may have heard the word ‘fistula’ from time to time, and you might be wondering what exactly it might be. There are a lot of strange things that can happen in the body, and the medical community often uses terms that are hard for the average person to understand. Very simply, a Crohn’s disease fistula is a narrow type of tunnel of tissue that can grow from your intestine to another organ of the body. About a quarter of the people who have crohn’s disease will develop these and they require additional treatment.

A fistula often occurs in the intestines, and will normally form between the intestinal wall and the bladder. It can also attach to the abdominal wall or other nearby organs. For women, this can be a problem with any part of the reproductive system. This can cause a women who does not know she has Crohn’s, or even one who does, to assume she is having problems with the reproductive system. In a way she is, but probably not for the reasons she thinks.

The biggest problem with fistulas is that they are created by infection, and they carry this infection to any organ they connect to. This means that if it tunnels out and connects to the bladder, you are going to get a bladder infection. If it goes to the reproductive system, there will be infections there as well. If something like this were left unattended, it can cause some pretty nasty issues with the entire body. There are times the fistulas will go from a part of the intestine to another part of it, and with that the infection is contained to the intestines. That doesn’t mean they do not need to be treated, however.

Once fistulas are found, they must be dealt with immediately. There are many options available to your doctor in deciding which treatment to choose. They may want to try inflammatory drugs, and at times, an antibiotic to see if the fistula will close and heal on their own, but there are also occasions when a medical procedure is needed to close them off. Depending on how bad things appear, you may need massive amounts of antibiotics to stop infection from spreading. In many cases, the fistula must be drained, detached, and the opening closed.

Your doctor can tell you more about fistulas, and what you might experience if one has formed. You will usually know that something is wrong, you just won’t know what it is at first. It can show up as problems in other areas before you realize it might have something to do with your Crohn’s. Fistula’s, if left untreated can be fatal, depending on where they are and if they are open at both ends. No matter how serious they are, they all need to be taken care of to ensure that you are going to be okay. The complications causes by a Crohn’s disease fistula can be hard to deal with, but knowing what is going on so you can get treatment is the best thing you can do for your body and the quality of your life.

Sign for your free copy of my Crohn’s Disease Newsletter by filling out the sign up form above. The newsletter is packed full of easy to implement methods to help you find out more about the various crohns complications such as Crohns disease fistulas, plus information on the benefits of following a crohns diet and more.