It Is A Mighty Challenge To Diagnose Crohn's Disease


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Crohn\'s disease is one of the toughest gastrointestinal (GI)diseases for healthcare providers to diagnose. The reason for this is because it is like a Trojan horse, hiding away while mimicking so many other GI conditions. So of course it is often tough to tell exactly what you are dealing with... mimics others and yet can still manage to make your life miserable!

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.

Currently there isn\'t one absolute test that your physician can elect to use to definitely diagnose your Crohn\'s disease, it is simply a matter of taking the time to eliminate other GI diagnosis while trying to correctly identify what in the world is going on in your gut. Kind of like trying to master a 10,000 piece 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.

Other tests such as a colonoscopy, a barium enema, a flexible sigmoidoscopy, a small bowel x-ray study, a capsule endoscopy, or even a CT scan of the abdomen may also help your health care provider to determine if you have Crohn\'s or not. Lab tests such as a complete blood count (CBC) can also tell if you are anemic due to blood loss.

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.

So you should already be able to see how difficult diagnosing Crohn\'s disease can be. However, just like putting the pieces of a puzzle together your physician should keep on going until a definitive diagnosis is made. You are worth it.

Crohn\'s disease symptoms can be a bit tricky and yet one of the commonly seen symptoms is bloody diarrhea or rectal bleeding. This bleeding is what can lead to abnormal lab work that beings to paint a picture of anemia because of the blood loss. These two pieces of information are important in getting the diagnosis right. So don\'t be embarrassed if you are experiencing rectal bleeding. For goodness sakes, tell the truth!

Your physician may also elect to perform a colonoscopy. This procedure is generally done by a gastroenterologist trained in the procedure. After a stringent bowel prep prior to the exam, your physician and a will insert a flexible lighted tube with an attached camera through your rectum and into the colon to check for any evidence of Crohn\'s disease.

Of course, just as with all medical procedures, a colonoscopy has its risks. Obviously with this procedure two of the most common risks are G.I. bleeding and perforation of the colon wall, both of which can be extremely serious complications.

Here\'s the bad news though. Since Crohn\'s disease might only be evident in the small intestine and not rear its ugly head in the colon, well then a colonoscopy would be totally ineffective in diagnosing Crohn\'s disease. So, pity, all that uncomfortable exam for nothing definite!

So a colonoscopy may or may be the sure fire hit to tell you if you have Crohn\'s and so your doc may decide to instead order a flexible sigmoidoscopy. While it is pretty similar to the colonoscopy, the one major change is that this little tube does not contain a camera. With this exam your physician would use the lighted tube to look at the inside of the last 2 feet of the colon to see if there are any signs of Crohn\'s disease. If your physician sees evidence of Crohn\'s in those last two feet of the colon, then a definitive diagnosis could be made. As with all tests, even the flexible sigmoidoscopy has some downfalls. The bad news is that Crohn\'s disease can hide higher up in the colon and so if that is the case, the the flexible sigmoidoscopy would be totally useless.

Well, it should be rather clear by now that if you have any symptoms of Crohn\'s disease that it may take while for your healthcare provider to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and to get to an accurate diagnosis. This is not something that can taken lightly and it is important that an accurate diagnosis is reached before rushing to judgment just to have an answer on the table.

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 important information on stomach pain visit a-stomach-pain.com There\'s information on stomach pain causes such as Crohn\'s disease and other articles at www.a-stomach-pain.com Click here for other unique \'stomach pain\' articles.


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