How to Recognize Crohn's Disease Symptoms - Article Health

Brian Greenberg was only 11 when he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. And although having a chronic inflammatory bowel disease is far from good news, he was relatively lucky in at least one aspect of the diagnosis. The first medical specialist who saw him correctly diagnosed his symptoms of stomach pain, nausea, bloody stools, exhaustion, and aching joints as Crohn's disease. Even so, Greenberg had already suffered for the better part of a year without knowing what ailed him.

As Greenberg can attest, Crohn's, a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), can be notoriously difficult to pin down thanks to a set of tricky symptoms that can flare up and subside over time. It can sometimes take years to get a proper diagnosis.

"The symptoms vary from patient to patient and that's one reason that it's so hard to make a diagnosis," says Renee Young, MD, professor of internal medicine, division of gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Another reason: The symptoms can mimic those of many other conditions, including ulcerative colitis (another type of IBD), appendicitis, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition that can also cause constipation and diarrhea, but doesn't have the same inflammation or destruction of the digestive tract as an IBD.

Much of the confusion arises from the fact that Crohn's disease is an autoimmune condition that can strike unpredictably. The abnormal immune system response can damage any part of the digestive system, causing different symptoms depending on where the attack is occurring.

"It really can affect any portion of your GI tract, anywhere from the mouth to the rectum," says Alyssa Parian, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Another reason: The symptoms can mimic those of many other conditions, including ulcerative colitis (another type of IBD), appendicitis, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition that can also cause constipation and diarrhea, but doesn't have the same inflammation or destruction of the digestive tract as an IBD.

Much of the confusion arises from the fact that Crohn's disease is an autoimmune condition that can strike unpredictably. The abnormal immune system response can damage any part of the digestive system, causing different symptoms depending on where the attack is occurring.

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