Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the digestive tract and it can involve any part of it, from the mouth to the anus. It typically affects the terminal ileum as well as demarcated areas of large bowel, with other areas of the bowel being relatively unaffected. It is often associated with auto-immune disorders outside the bowel, such as aphthous stomatitis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Related Topics:
Disease - Mouth - Anus - Ileum - Bowel - Auto-immune - Aphthous stomatitis - Rheumatoid arthritis

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Crohn's disease should not be confused with a non-progressive and non-degenerative digestive disorder called irritable bowel syndrome. IBS is not an autoimmune disease. Ulcerative colitis is a sibling autoimmune disease to Crohn's but only impacts the colon while Crohn's can impact any part of the digestive tract. Furthermore, Crohn's tends to affect multiple layers of the bowel lining, which can lead to many additional and hard-to-treat complications.

Related Topics:
Irritable bowel syndrome - Ulcerative colitis

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