Inflammatory Bowel Disease / IBD
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In a film created by Jesse Dylan, care providers participating in ImproveCareNow discuss how the program's collaborative approach is improving the health of children with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
(Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease)
What is Inflammatory Bowel Disease / IBD?
Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are called inflammatory bowel disease(s) / IBD. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease have many similar symptoms (including diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and abdominal pain). These diseases are not contagious.
About one million Americans have IBD. Thirty thousand new cases are diagnosed every year.
Although the exact cause(s) of IBD is not known, these are thought to play a role in both diseases:
- A genetic tendency
- An environmental trigger
- The patient's immune system
- Bacteria that are normally in the intestine
Young people between the ages of 15 and 35 are most likely to get IBD, but anyone can get it. It is more common in Caucasians. IBD is especially common in those who are Jewish.
Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease both have times when disease symptoms go away (remission). They also both have times when symptoms become more severe (flare).
Diagnosing these diseases requires several tests:
- Blood tests
- X-rays
- Endoscopy (looking inside the bowel with a flexible tube)
Ulcerative colitis can be cured by removing the colon (colectomy). There is no cure for Crohn's disease.
What are the main differences between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease?
Ulcerative colitis only affects the colon. It usually involves the rectum and can affect areas up into the colon. If it affects the whole colon, it is called pancolitis. Crohn's disease can involve any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the anus.
Ulcerative colitis only involves the lining of the bowel (not the entire thickness of the bowel wall). Crohn's disease affects the entire thickness of the intestinal wall.
Patients with ulcerative colitis and those with Crohn's disease that involves the colon have a greater risk of getting colon cancer, and this risk increases over time.
Can these diseases be managed without surgery?
Medicine is tried first to help control inflammation for both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. When inflammation is severe, steroids such as prednisone are used. In many cases, medications work to control both diseases, so surgery is not needed for a very long time.
What is the role of surgery in managing IBD?
Surgery may be recommended when medicine cannot control the symptoms or when there are other medical problems. In ulcerative colitis, the disease is cured if the colon is removed.
Surgery for Crohn's disease may help relieve constant symptoms or correct problems. It is not a cure for Crohn's disease because the disease usually comes back.
Rev. 8/08
