What is Crohn’s disease?
Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that’s caused by your immune system mistakenly attacking healthy tissue in your digestive tract. It leads to inflammation in your gut and symptoms like diarrhea and stomach pain. Over time, you can develop complications, like nutrient deficiencies and other conditions. Although there’s no cure for Crohn’s disease, therapies can greatly reduce your symptoms and support your overall health.
At Penn Medicine, we use innovative techniques to diagnose IBD, and we take a team approach to your treatment. Gastroenterologists, dietitians, and other specialists work together to deliver therapies that are most effective at treating Crohn’s disease and its symptoms. This chronic condition might interfere with daily life, but you can live well with ongoing care.
How Crohn’s disease might affect you
Symptoms of Crohn’s disease may begin suddenly or develop more gradually over time, and they tend to come and go. Periods when symptoms are worse are called flares, and times when symptoms go away are known as remission. During flares, it’s common to have:
- Stomach cramps and pain
- Diarrhea or loose stools that may contain blood
- Constipation
- Poor appetite and weight loss
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Mouth sores
Crohn’s disease also might cause:
- Inflammation in other parts of your body, like your eyes, liver, or bile ducts
- Joint pain and inflammation
- Skin rashes
- Iron deficiency anemia
- Kidney stones
- Abnormal connections between the gut and another part of your body, known as fistulas
What causes Crohn’s disease?
Your immune system usually protects you from harmful germs, but in Crohn’s disease, it targets healthy cells in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. While experts don’t know exactly why this happens, a combination of hereditary and environmental factors may be involved. Certain genes that run in families and the bacteria found in your gut may trigger the immune response.
Crohn’s disease differs from ulcerative colitis, another inflammatory bowel disease, because of where it occurs. Any part of your digestive system can be affected by Crohn’s, although it most often impacts the end of your small intestine and beginning of your large intestine. Ulcerative colitis only affects the large intestine, known as the colon.
Risk factors for Crohn’s disease
Your risk of Crohn’s disease is higher if you have a close relative with the condition. Although it can affect you at any age, it’s more commonly diagnosed in people between ages 15 and 35, and the risk is higher in people who are white or of Eastern European Jewish descent. Smoking is also a risk factor.
How is Crohn’s disease diagnosed?
Several diagnostic tests can help your doctor determine if you have Crohn’s disease, including blood tests, stool tests, and imaging. Your doctor may also remove a small amount of tissue for examination, called a biopsy.
Crohn’s treatment approaches
The goal of Crohn’s disease treatment is to help you reach remission and live without symptoms. You may need to make changes to your diet and take supplements to correct any nutrient deficiencies. Medications prescribed by your doctor can treat your symptoms, lower inflammation, and suppress your immune system. There are also targeted therapies that include pills, injections, and infusions that can help you manage the disease. If needed, surgery may be recommended to remove a part of the intestine.
Whole-person digestive care from trusted providers
Penn Medicine’s experts have training in all areas of diagnosis and management of IBD, including Crohn’s disease. We provide care throughout your lifetime, connecting you with experts from a variety of specialties to support every aspect of your health. For children with Crohn’s who are transitioning to adult care, we partner with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to provide uninterrupted treatment and support.
We also advance the understanding and treatment of Crohn’s disease through our medical studies in this area. Our physicians have been recognized by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America for scientific achievement in IBD research. Through access to clinical trials and to our fellowship-trained physicians and colorectal surgeons, we provide well-rounded care that helps improve your quality of life.