Crohn's Disease A Tough Dance To Master


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This disease is often one crafty and wicked little bugger! Diagnosing Crohn\'s Disease can be a tough one to make since it acts like so many other gastrointestinal (GI) diagnosis. All too often, patients suffering with Crohn\'s are misdiagnosed with other GI ailments multiple times before the true culprit is discovered.

Symptoms absolutely vary from person to person and there are no strict guidelines for physicians to follow that definitively point to a diagnosis of Crohn\'s disease. Therein lies the challenge.

There is not one absolute test that your health care provider can use in diagnosing Crohn\'s disease definitively and so diagnosing Crohn\'s disease becomes a bit of a puzzle.

There are several medical procedures that can be performed that can help either to rule out or to confirm Crohn\'s disease. One of the easiest and least expensive and least invasive tests is an examination of a stool sample. By examining the stool sample your medical provider can determine whether the diarrhea and bowel disturbances that you are experiencing are associated with inflammation or are the result of an infection.

Inflammation is one of the hallmark signs of Crohn\'s. With this disease, your GI tract acts as if your body is fighting an infection but in fact, there is no actual infection present. Again, a simple stool sample can tell your doc a lot about your gut.

Well, once your physician has had a good look at your poop and has had a chance to see if it is infection or inflammation hiding within, the next thing on the \"tests\" to do is typically several other standardized tests. Some of those tests may include drawing blood to assess your complete blood count to check for signs of anemia due to blood loss and for signs of infection, a CT scan of your belly, or even a colonoscopy, a flexible sigmoidoscopy and perhaps a barium enema. Some physicians may also elect to have you get a small bowel x-ray series and even a capsule endoscopy.

Once your test results come back, your health care provider will review them thoroughly before discussing them with you. One of the key things to remember is that if your additional blood work indicates that an infection is present then it is less likely that you have Crohn\'s disease. However, if your blood work shows that anemia is present, then Crohn\'s disease is more of a possibility.

Well, it is pretty clear by now that getting an accurate diagnosis of Crohn\'s disease is a bit like hunting for bear with a BB gun! It is a tough diagnosis to put all the pieces together. So no worries if it takes a bit of time for your health care provider to get to the bottom of your symptoms. Just don\'t give up, your health is worth getting an accurate diagnosis.

Other symptoms of Crohn\'s may include bloody diarrhea and even rectal bleeding. Here\'s where the CBC can tell the real story. With excessive blood loss your blood work may show signs of anemia. So detective doc, just got one more piece of the mystery fitting into place. If your lab work shows indications of anemia, then when combined with your other symptoms it is quite possible that a diagnosis of Crohn\'s disease is in your future.

A colonoscopy may be helpful in getting to the bottom of your symptoms. Generally performed by a gastroenterologist, a colonoscopy can only be performed after you have completed a rigorous bowel prep so that your colon is thoroughly clean out. If there is still stool in the colon then your physician cannot see your colon. Make sense? So once you\'ve completed the bowel prep, after mild sedation your physician will insert a flexible lighted tube that has a tiny camera attached to it through your rectum and into your colon. With the lighted tube and tiny camera your physician can see the colon and can assess for the presence of Crohn\'s disease.

It is important to remember with any medical procedure and there are risks associated with it. Risk associated with a colonoscopy include G.I. bleeding and perforation of the colon wall.

It is also wise to remember that Crohn\'s disease may only be evident in the small intestine and not the colon and so in this case a colonoscopy would be completely and totally ineffective in diagnosing Crohn\'s disease.

When diagnosing Crohn\'s, your doctor may decide to take a look inside your colon by ordering a flexible sigmoidoscopy. With this exam, after a stringent bowel prep, your physician will insert a flexible scope through your rectum to take a look at the last two feet of your colon. Again, a visual look can tell the whole story if the those last two feet of colon show signs of Crohn\'s disease. Just like the colonoscopy, the flexible sigmoidoscopy has its limitations too. If the disease is up higher than the last two feet of the colon, then this exam is not going to catch it.

Well, it should be pretty clear by now that trying to definitely figure out if Crohn\'s disease is the culprit or not, is a bit like trying to discover the eye of the needle in a big ole haystack. So don\'t get irritated and rush your physician! Give \'em a chance to thoroughly figure it out before rushing to judgment.

Because it mimics so many other diseases diagnosing Crohn\'s disease can be a challenge. However, it is a challenge that is certainly worth undertaking so that you can get back to being a healthy you.

For more information on healthy living, be sure to visit the-health-hub.com where you\'ll find information on health topics such as GI health, diet and exercise, IBS & more You can get a unique content version of this article.


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