Inflammatory Bowel Disease
The small bowel, also known as the small intestine, connects the stomach to the large intestine. The small bowel performs many functions including food digestion and absorption of essential nutrients from food into the body. Common conditions within the small bowel include Crohn's Disease, iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB). Inflammation, lesions, ulcers and bleeding impair the digestion process and disturb normal absorption of nutrients, resulting in various symptoms.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects an estimated 1.6 million Americans with 70,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Most patients are diagnosed before 35 years of age. A second occurrence of disease occurs in patients in the age range of 50 to 65 years. These chronic diseases tend to run in families and they affect males and females equally. While IBD can affect anyone, Caucasians are more likely than other ethnic groups (such as Ashkenazi Jewish populations) to have IBD.
IBD involves chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis are the major conditions within this IBD umbrella. There are two main subtypes of IBD: Crohn's Disease, which can involve all parts of the gastrointestinal tract, even extraintestinal manifestations, and is patchy in its appearance and Ulcerative Colitis, which is isolated to the colon alone.
Both Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis usually involve severe diarrhea, pain, chronic abdominal pain, and fatigue and weight loss. Both of these conditions can be debilitating and sometimes lead to life-threatening complications. Due to the similar symptom profiles, it is critical to confirm the appropriate diagnosis, as treatment options may vary.
