Verified Document

Crohn's Disease Research Paper

Crohn's Cronh's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis Background

Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis are the major forms of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in the western world, and occur in young adults with an estimated prevalence of more than one per thousand inhabitants (Hugot, et al., 1996). These diseases can affect any portion of the gastrointestinal system all the way from the mouth to the anus and are associated with many other medical problems such as arthritis, skin condition, cancer, and kidney stones. Ulcerative Colitis is most likely to be diagnosed in early adolescence while Cronh's Disease is more likely to be diagnosed between the ages of fifteen and thirty but can more rarely be diagnosed later in life. Both of these diseases are still being researched thoroughly and many questions remain.

The most common symptoms of IBD include abdominal pain, cramping, and diarrhea. In some more severe cases symptoms may also include rectal bleeding, urgent bowel movements, constipation and reoccurring fever. Most doctors will work to diagnose IBD doctors through the use a series of blood tests to determine if certain antibodies are present and to diagnose which type of inflammatory bowel disease is present in the patient. Blood tests will show particular signs of an immune response associated with inflammation and intestinal disease. In some cases stool samples can be collected to examine the content of the stool or there may also be a colonoscopy performed to examine the intestines first hand. However, by discovering the presence of white blood cells in a patient's stool will indicate some type of an inflammatory disease, and then in can be further deduced as to whether it has arisen from an IBD.

One study looked at the whether the use of antibiotics...

This possibly implicates antibiotic use as a predisposing factor in IBD etiology. However, there are many more potential contributing factors that are also subject. However, there is evidence that shows a greater risk if a close relative has the disease, suggesting a strong genetic component.
There is also research being conducted that is attempting to identify the disease specific loci for Cronh's and UC. Identifying shared and disease-specific susceptibility loci for Cronh's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) would help define the biologic relationship between the inflammatory bowel diseases. More than 30 CD susceptibility loci have been identified. These represent important candidate susceptibility loci for UC. Loci discovered by the index genome scans in CD have previously been tested for association with UC, but those identified in the recent meta-analysis await such investigation. One study analyzed 45 single nucleotide polymorphisms, tagging 29 of the loci recently associated with CD in 2527 UC cases and 4070 population controls and collectively such data can help genetic relationship CD and UC and characterize common, as well as disease-specific mechanisms of pathogenesis (Anderson & al, 2009).

Cronh's Disease and Ulcerative Patient Implications

Both diseases are severe and have many of the same symptoms. Whereas Crohn's disease may cause inflammation anywhere along the digestive tract, UC generally occurs only in the large intestines. Furthermore, with Crohn's the inflammation…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Anderson, C., & al, e. (2009). Investigation of Crohn's Disease Risk Loci in Ulcerative Colitis Further Defines Their Molecular Relationship . Gastroenterology, 523-529.

Columbia St. Mary's. (N.d.). Differences Between Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Retrieved from Gastroenterology Services: http://www.columbia-stmarys.org/Crohn_vs_Ulcerative_Colitis

Hugot, J., Puig, P.R., Olson, J., Lee, J.B., naom, I.D., Gossum, A., . . . Thomas, G. (1996). Mapping of a susceptibility locus for Crohn's disease on chromosome 16. Nature, 821-823.

Shaw, S., Blanchard, J., & Bernstein, C. (2011). Association Between the Use of Antibiotics and New Diagnoses of Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2133-2142.
Tresca, A. (2013, October 13). The Differences Between Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease. Retrieved from Inflammatory Bowel Disease: http://ibdcrohns.about.com/od/ulcerativecolitis/a/diffuccd.htm
Web MD. (N.d.). Slideshow: A Visual Guide to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Retrieved from Slideshows: http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/ss/slideshow-inflammatory-bowel-overview
Web MD. (N.d.). Slideshow: A Visual Guide to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Retrieved from Slideshows: http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/ss/slideshow-inflammatory-bowel-overview
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Crohn's Disease an Overview of the Most
Words: 788 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Crohn's Disease An Overview of the Most Pertinent Facts Relating to Crohn's Disease Crohn's Disease Affects the Digestive System (Journey with Crohn's, N.d.) Crohn's disease is a serious condition that afflicts roughly half a million people in North America alone. The disease affects the bowels of a patient, anywhere between the mouth all the way to the anus, and has a wide range of symptoms associated with it. Some of the symptoms include

Crohn's Disease and Treatment
Words: 1089 Length: 4 Document Type: Case Study

Case Study: Crohn�s DiseaseCrohn�s disease can often be difficult to diagnose, given it shares many similarities with inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome. In this case, a 27-year-old man with Crohn�s disease has been admitted to the emergency room. Crohn�s disease is usually initially treated with drug therapy, although depending upon its severity, surgical intervention may be required. �Though most patients respond to medical therapy, mainly steroids,

Crohn's Disease in Canada
Words: 892 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Crohn's Disease In Canada CROHN'S DISEASE Crohn's disease has another name of regional enteritis. It is an intestinal disease which is inflammatory and can affect different parts of the gastrointestinal tract which can be from mouth to the anus having array of symptoms. Its effects are pain in the abdomen, diarrhea which when is at the worst inflammation it can contain blood in the diarrhea, vomiting and all these may result to

Crohn's Disease: Promising New Findings
Words: 861 Length: 2 Document Type: Thesis

The study supports the findings of the recent NF-kB research given that infliximab neutralizes an inflammation-causing protein called tumor necrosis factor alpha. This protein regulates "a common inflammation pathway that just happens to be important in Crohn's disease," suggesting that a specific, targeted molecular approach to treatment may be more helpful for Crohn's patients than steroids (Seppa 2008) Future drugs, however, could directly address the problems regarding NF-kB, rather than

Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Immunological, Demographical, and Genetic...
Words: 1906 Length: 6 Document Type: Article Review

Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Immunological, Demographical, and Genetic Findings Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects the colon and the small intestine. Though there are many subtypes of IBD, the most common and well-known are Crowns disease and ulcerative colitis (WebMD.com, 2011). Crohn's disease causes symptoms such as abdominal pains, diarrhea, vomit, weight loss, as well as many non-digestive system related pains (WebMD.com, 2011). Ulcerative colitis is quite similar to Crohn's disease due to noticeable

Ileitis, Enteritis, or Regional Enteritis, Crohn's Disease
Words: 1081 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

ileitis, enteritis, or regional enteritis, Crohn's disease is a relapsing, inflammatory bowel disease that affects the ileum (lower part of the small intestine), which becomes inflamed and swells deep into its lining ("Crohn's Disease," 2006; Nachimuthi, 2005; Baumgart & Sandborn, 2007). It can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract -- from the mouth to the anus -- but is typically found in the lower part of the intestine ("Crohn's Disease,"

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now