Crohn's Disease - Overview

Crohn's disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal system, from mouth to anus. A significant proportion of individuals with Crohn's disease have the terminal ileum — the end of the small bowel and the beginning of the colon — affected. Crohn's disease is an inflammation that affects all layers of the bowel and is also characterized by "skip lesions" — areas of ulceration separated by areas of healthy bowel.

Common symptoms of Crohn's disease include: diarrhea, abdominal cramping and weight loss. Other symptoms can include fatigue, perianal disease (abscesses, fissures, fistulas), nausea and vomiting, bloating or a feeling of fullness in the abdomen, and fistula formation.

Crohn's disease tends to begin in the early decades of life (and genetic influences are a likely contributing factor), though there is a second group where onset begins after the fourth decade of life.

Crohn's disease tends to happen equally between males and females and has a higher incidence in the Ashkenazi Jewish population.

The Crohn's Disease Support Network was established to provide peer support and information to people affected by Crohn’s disease. It is organized and facilitated by people who are living with Crohn’s disease with the help of staff from the IBD Program at Mount Sinai Hospital.