Crohn’s disease
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GC: n

S: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Crohns-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx (last access: 14 February 2016); http://www.ccfa.org/what-are-crohns-and-colitis/what-is-crohns-disease/ (last access: 14 February 2016).

N: 1. Crohn disease, also called regional enteritis or regional ileitis, small intestine: cell types chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, usually occurring in the terminal portion of the ileum, the region of the small intestine farthest from the stomach. Crohn disease was first described in 1904 by Polish surgeon Antoni Leśniowski. It was later named for American gastroenterologist Burrill Bernard Crohn, who in 1932, in collaboration with fellow physicians Leon Ginzburg and Gordon D. Oppenheimer, published a thorough description of a then-unknown intestinal disorder they called regional ileitis.
2. Today, Crohn disease is characterized as a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and has been associated with abnormal function of the immune system and genetic variations. The disease also has been linked to abnormal changes in populations of intestinal bacteria. For example, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, a normal inhabitant of the human intestinal tract, is found in decreased levels in people with Crohn disease, and Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis, found in the intestinal tracts of ruminants affected by Johne disease, which is similar to Crohn disease in humans, has been isolated from the blood of some patients. However, despite these associations, the cause of Crohn disease remains unknown.
3. People with Crohn’s disease can experience periods of severe symptoms followed by periods of remission that can last for weeks or years. The symptoms of Crohn’s disease depend on where the disease occurs in the bowel and its severity. In general, symptoms can include:

  • Chronic diarrhea, often bloody and containing mucus or pus
  • Weight loss
  • Fever
  • Abdominal pain and tenderness
  • Feeling of a mass or fullness in the abdomen
  • Rectal bleeding.

S: 1 & 2. EncBrit – http://www.britannica.com/science/Crohn-disease (last access: 14 February 2016). 3. http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/digestive-diseases-crohns-disease (last access: 14 February 2016).

SYN: regional ileitis, regional enteritis.

S: EncBrit – http://www.britannica.com/science/Crohn-disease (last access: 14 February 2016); TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 14 February 2016).

CR: tenesmus