Key takeaways

  • Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that most commonly occurs in the small intestine and colon. It may also affect any part of your gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, and can involve some parts while skipping others.
  • Symptoms of Crohn’s disease may include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, bloody stools, fever, and the frequent need to pass a bowel movement, among others.
  • Treatment options like medication and dietary changes can help manage symptoms, but around 8 in 10 people with Crohn’s disease will require surgery at some point in their lives.

Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). As many as 780,000 Americans have the condition.

More studies on Crohn’s disease are needed. Despite advances in treatment, researchers still aren’t sure how it begins, who exactly is going to develop it, or how to cure it.

Crohn’s disease most commonly occurs in the small intestine and the colon. It can affect any part of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract, from the mouth to the anus. It can involve some parts of the GI tract and skip other parts.

The range of severity for Crohn’s is mild to debilitating. Symptoms vary and can change over time. In severe cases, the disease can lead to life threatening flares and complications.

Here’s everything you need to know about Crohn’s disease.

The symptoms of Crohn’s disease can start suddenly or develop gradually. Certain symptoms may also become worse over time.

The earliest symptoms of Crohn’s disease can include:

Over time, symptoms may progress, and include:

More serious symptoms may also include:

  • a perianal fistula, which causes pain and drainage near your anus
  • ulcers that may occur anywhere from the mouth to the anus
  • inflammation of the joints and skin
  • anemia, or low red blood cell counts

Early detection and diagnosis can help you avoid severe complications and allow you to begin treatment early.

There are five variations of Crohn’s disease, all based on location in the digestive system. They are:

  • Gastroduodenal Crohn’s disease: This type affects the stomach and the duodenum, which is the first part of your small intestine.
  • Jejunoileitis: This type affects the second portion of your intestine, called the jejunum.
  • Ileitis: This type affects the ileum, which is the last part of the small intestine.
  • Ileocolitis: This type affects the ileum and the colon.
  • Crohn’s colitis: This type affects the colon only.

In addition, Crohn’s disease can present as perianal disease, which involves fistulas (abnormal connections between tissues), deep tissue infections, as well as sores and ulcers on the outer skin around the anus.

It isn’t clear what causes Crohn’s disease.

It’s considered to be an autoimmune disease, where your immune system mistakenly attacks your body, leading to inflammation. In Crohn’s disease, this inflammation can impact your gastrointestinal tract, leading to digestive symptoms. However, inflammation can impact other parts of the body, as well.

Risk factors

The following factors may influence your chances of developing Crohn’s disease:

  • inheriting certain genes
  • having a family history of the disease
  • smoking
  • living in an urban environment

Crohn’s is typically diagnosed based on the results of a biopsy, where tissue samples are taken from your digestive tract during an upper or lower endoscopy and used for testing.

Other tests may also point to Crohn’s disease, and their results — combined with your symptoms and history — will be taken into consideration. These tests include blood and stool tests, as well as an endoscopy and colonoscopy, during which your doctor will likely do a biopsy. You may also need imaging tests like CT and MRI.

Once the doctor reviews the results of all your tests and gets a clear picture of your symptoms, they may conclude you have Crohn’s disease.

Your doctor may go on to request these tests several more times to look for affected tissue and determine how the disease is progressing.

A cure for Crohn’s disease isn’t available yet, but the disease can be managed. A variety of treatment options exist that can lessen the severity and frequency of your symptoms.

Medications

Several types of medications are available to treat Crohn’s. These include:

  • aminosalicylates (5-ASAs)
  • corticosteroids
  • immunomodulators
  • antibiotics
  • biologics
  • targeted synthetic small molecules

Surgery

If less invasive treatments and lifestyle changes don’t improve your symptoms, surgery may be necessary. Ultimately, about 80% of people with Crohn’s disease will require surgery at some point in their lives.

Types of surgeries include:

Crohn’s disease surgery is helpful for relieving symptoms, but it’s not without risk. Talk with your doctor about any concerns you may have with surgery.

Diet

Food doesn’t cause Crohn’s disease, but it can trigger flares. A diet plan that works for one person with Crohn’s disease may not work for another. This is because the disease can involve different areas of the GI tract in different people.

It’s important to find out what works best for you. This can be done by keeping track of your symptoms as you add or remove certain foods from your diet and in consultation with your doctor or a registered dietitian.

Lifestyle and diet changes that may help you include:

  • Reduce fiber: For some people, foods with fiber may aggravate the GI tract. If this is true for you, you may need to switch to a low residue diet. Research on this particular diet has been mixed, so speak with your doctor about your personal needs.
  • Limit fat: Crohn’s disease may interfere with your body’s ability to break down and absorb fat. Consider cutting back on butter and fried or greasy foods and sticking to heathy fats like olive oil and avocado, instead.
  • Limit dairy: For some people with Crohn’s disease, consuming dairy can lead to an upset stomach, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. If you’re sensitive to dairy, limit your intake of products like milk and yogurt.
  • Drink water: Crohn’s disease may affect your body’s ability to absorb water from your digestive tract. This can lead to dehydration. The risk of dehydration is especially high if you’re having diarrhea or bleeding.
  • Take vitamin and mineral supplements: Crohn’s disease can affect your intestines’ ability to properly absorb other nutrients from your food. Eating nutrient-dense foods may not be enough. Talk with your doctor about taking multivitamins to find out if this is right for you.

Natural treatments

Some people use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to help manage symptoms of various conditions and diseases, including Crohn’s disease.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved these options as first-line treatments, but some people add them to mainstream medications.

Don’t add any new treatments to your current treatment plan without consulting your doctor.

Some CAM treatments for Crohn’s disease include:

  • Probiotics: These may help prevent microorganisms from upsetting your gut’s natural balance and causing a Crohn’s flare. Scientific data about effectiveness is limited.
  • Prebiotics: These are potentially beneficial materials found in plants that help feed the good bacteria in your gut and increase their numbers.
  • Fish oil: Oily fish like salmon and mackerel are rich in anti-inflammatory omega-3s. Though more research is needed to confirm the benefits of fish oil in Crohn’s disease.
  • Supplements: Some herbs, vitamins, and minerals may help ease the symptoms of Crohn’s disease. Research is ongoing as to which supplements may be beneficial.
  • Acupuncture: Research has found that acupuncture, combined with moxibustion — a type of traditional Chinese medicine that involves burning dried medicinal herbs on or near your skin — may help improve some symptoms.

Tell your doctor if you use any CAM treatments or over-the-counter medications. Some of these substances can affect the efficiency of medications or other treatments. In some cases, an interaction or side effect could be dangerous or even life threatening.

What is the life expectancy of someone with Crohn’s disease?

Research from 2020 notes that the average life expectancy for women with IBD was 78.4 years, and the average life expectancy for men with IBD was 75.5 years.

By comparison, the average general lifespan is 81.1 years for women and 75.8 years for men.

Can children develop Crohn’s disease?

Most people with Crohn’s disease receive a diagnosis in their 20s and 30s, but IBD can develop in children, too. Approximately 25% of those with IBD develop symptoms in childhood or adolescence.

Untreated Crohn’s in children can lead to growth delays and weakened bones. However, Crohn’s medications can have some significant side effects on children. It’s vital you work closely with your child’s doctor to find the right options.

What is the difference between Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis?

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) are two types of IBD. They have many of the same characteristics. You may even mistake them for one another.

That said, there are also some differences. Learn more about Crohn’s disease versus ulcerative colitis.

Research is still ongoing to find more effective treatments and potentially an eventual cure for Crohn’s disease. But symptoms can be successfully managed, and remission is possible.

Your doctor can help guide you in finding the right medications, alternative treatments, and lifestyle measures that can help.

If you’re having gastrointestinal symptoms, speak with your doctor to determine the cause and potential solutions.