What Is Crohn's Disease?

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It causes inflammation of your digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. Inflammation caused by Crohn's disease can involve different areas of the digestive tract in different people.

Symptoms:

• Belly pain and cramps
• Blood in your poop
• Diarrhea
• Drainage from a painful sore near your anus
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Lack of appetite
• Mouth sores
• Urgent bowel movements
• Weight loss

Causes:
The exact cause of Crohn's disease remains unknown. Previously, diet and stress were suspected, but now doctors know that these factors may aggravate but don't cause Crohn's disease. A number of factors, such as heredity and a malfunctioning immune system, likely play a role in its development.
Immune system. It's possible that a virus or bacterium may trigger Crohn's disease. When your immune system tries to fight off the invading microorganism, an abnormal immune response causes the immune system to attack the cells in the digestive tract, too.
Heredity. Crohn's is more common in people who have family members with the disease, so genes may play a role in making people more susceptible. However, most people with Crohn's disease don't have a family history of the disease.

Diagnosis:

• Tests for anemia or infection. 
• Fecal occult blood test.
• Colonoscopy.
• Computerized tomography (CT).
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
• Capsule Endoscopy. 
• Balloon-assisted enteroscopy.