Crohn's Disease Involvement with the Intestinal Lymphatic System

Containing evidence of genetic links, no known cures, and affecting approximately 400,000 to 600,000 patients in the United States, Crohn's Disease is a chronic autoimmune attack against the gastrointestinal tract that may afflict members of the same family and last for a few weeks to several months.

Presentation:

With a high environmental component affecting men and women equally, and placing smokers at three times more likely to contract the ailment, Crohn's Disease tends to present beginning in the Teens to Twenties, and peaking again between the ages of fifty to seventy years old, although the disease may occur at any age, and remission may not be possible or prolonged.

Terminal Ileum:

Crohn's Disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disorder of unknown bacterial causes, may be penetrating and create abnormal passageways between the bowels, the skin, and other body structures, stricturing and cause narrowing of the bowels, or bowel obstructions, or inflammatory, and commonly afflicts the Terminal Ileum's most distal part of the small intestine, the large intestine, the esophagus, the stomach, and other organs.

Symptoms:

Often partnered with Uclerated Colitis, Crohn's Disease may affect the entire gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth all the way down to the anus, with symptoms including such things as abdominal pain, mild diarrhea, fever, bleeding around the colon area, cutaneous-mucosal lesions, vomiting, weight loss, skin rashes, arthritis, eye inflammations, multiple bowel movements, bloating, passing gas, stenosis, narrow blood vessels, Small Bowel obstructions, bile duct inflammations, growth failure in children, abscesses, loss of appetite, weight gains, malabsorptions of lipids and carbohydrates, vision losses, red nodules on the shins, fatty layer subcutaneous adipose tissue inflammations, ulcerating nodules, blood clots, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolisms, blockages of the main artery of the lungs, red blood cell attacks, fatigue, pallor, osteoporosis, bone thinning, seizures, strokes, myopathic muscle diseases, peripheral neuropathies, headaches, depression, deformities of the ends of the fingers, Small Bowel Bacterial Overgrowth Syndrome in the small intestine as a result of malabsorption of nutrients, constipation, kidney stones, liver inflammations, and rectal bleeding.

Complications:

Complications of Crohn's Disease may include fistulas, obstructions, and abscesses of the intestines, increased risks of cancer development in the inflamed areas, such as small intestinal and colon cancer, malnutrition, bowel perforations, hemorrhages, pregnacy complications, mutations in the CARD-15 gene that affects immune responses, as well as potentially thirty other genes that may affect the ailment in various ways, and immune system abnormalities.

Diagnosis:

Diagnosis of Crohn's Disease can be difficult and may be achieved through physical examinations, family histories, colonoscopies, biopsies, x-rays, connulations of the Terminal Ileum, Small Bowel Follow Throughs, Barium Follow Throughs, fluoroscopic images, barium enemas, CT scans, MRIs, C-Reactive Protein Measurements, and complete blood counts.

Treatment Options:

Treatment options for Crohn's Disease may include monitoring remissions, preventing relapses, controlling symptoms of the ailment, life style changes, medications, surgeries, antibiotics, corticosteroids, steroid hormones, anti-inflammatories, immunodulators, aminosalicylic acids, hydrocortisones, low doses of naltrexone hydrochloride salts, smoking cessation, eating small meals, balanced diets, exercises, low fiber diets, and getting enough sleep.

Lymphedema:

Granulomatous Lymphangitis, hyperplasias of the lymphatic system, and Genital Lymphedema, an extremely rare manifestation of Crohn's Disease, can present several years before the appearance of the intestinal symptoms of the ailment.

Previously: Infections Associated With Lymphedema.

Next Time: Progressive Encephalopathy With Lymphedema.