Glossary of Medical and Health Terms

Crohn's Disease

Crohn's disease (also known as regional enteritis) is a chronic, episodic, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that affects the entire wall of the bowel or intestines. Crohn's disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus; as a result, the symptoms of Crohn's disease vary among afflicted individuals. The disease is characterized by areas of inflammation with areas of normal lining between in a symptom known as skip lesions. The main gastrointestinal symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody or the blood may not be seen by the naked eye), constipation, vomiting, weight loss or weight gain. Crohn's disease can also cause complications outside of the gastrointestinal tract such as skin rashes, arthritis, and inflammation of the eye.

The disease was independently described in 1904 by Polish surgeon Antoni Lesniowski and in 1932 by American gastroenterologist Burrill Bernard Crohn, for whom the disease was named. Crohn, along with two colleagues, described a series of patients with inflammation of the terminal ileum, the area most commonly affected by the illness. Crohn's disease affects between 400,000 and 600,000 people in North America. Prevalence estimates for Northern Europe have ranged from 27-48 per 100,000. Crohn's disease tends to present initially in the teens and twenties, with another peak incidence in the fifties to seventies, although the disease can occur at any age.

Although the cause of Crohn's disease is not known, it is believed to be an autoimmune disease that is genetically linked. The highest relative risk occurs in siblings, affecting males and females equally. Smokers are three times more likely to get Crohn's disease.

Unlike the other major types of IBD, ulcerative colitis, there is no known medical or surgical cure for Crohn's disease. Instead, a number of medical treatments are utilized with the goal of putting and keeping the disease in remission. These include 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) formulations (Pentasa capsules, Asacol tablets, Lialda tablets, Rowasa retention enemas), steroid medications, immunomodulators (such as azathioprine, mercaptopurine (6-MP), and methotrexate), and newer biological medications, such as infliximab (Remicade) and adalimumab (Humira). Also in January 2008 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new biologic known as natalizumab (Tysabri) for both induction of remission and maintenance of remission in moderate and severe Crohns Disease.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crohn%27s_disease

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