[sageofages]

Originally posted by Dionysus
Yeah, IBS is NOT an autoimmune disease. I would definately look more into this. You can look up Crohn's in Yahoo health and WebMD to see if your symptoms match. Look up Ulcerative Colitis too, I don't know if it's an autoimmune disease, but it is related to Crohn's. Get a second opinion. Some doctors don't know jack.

from the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America

http://www.ccfa.org/research/info/aboutcd

Crohn's disease is a chronic (ongoing) disorder that causes inflammation of the digestive or gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Although it can involve any area of the GI tract from the mouth to the anus, it most commonly affects the small intestine and/or colon.

Crohn's and a related disease, ulcerative colitis, are the two main disease categories that belong to a larger group of illnesses called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Because the symptoms of these two illnesses are so similar, it is sometimes difficult to establish the diagnosis definitively. In fact, approximately 10 percent of colitis cases are unable to be pinpointed as either ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease and are called indeterminate colitis.

Both illnesses do have one strong feature in common. They are marked by an abnormal response by the body's immune system. The immune system is composed of various cells and proteins. Normally, these protect the body from infection. In people with Crohn's disease, however, the immune system reacts inappropriately. Mistaking food, bacteria, and other materials in the intestine for foreign or invading substances, it launches an attack. In the process, the body sends white blood cells into the lining of the intestines, where they produce chronic inflammation. These cells then generate harmful products that ultimately lead to ulcerations and bowel injury. When this happens, the patient experiences the symptoms of IBD.

http://www.ccfa.org/research/info/aboutuc

Neither ulcerative colitis nor Crohn's disease should be confused with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a disorder that affects the motility (muscle contractions) of the colon. Sometimes called "spastic colon,"+or "nervous colitis" IBS is not characterized by intestinal inflammation. It is, therefore, a much less serious disease than ulcerative colitis. IBS bears no direct relationship to either ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease.

In addition to the IBD, there is always the secondary inflammation that almost always accompanies these conditions.

In my daughter's case, she has pretty severe arthritis in her back and legs, causing significant pain. In fact her structural pain from the arthritis made diagnosis virtually impossible until she had the bleeding episode. She was treated for almost 3 years for a "back injury" only for us to learn it was all Crohn's related.

http://www.ccfa.org/research/info/complications

The complications of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD) are generally categorized as either local or systemic. The term "local" refers to a complication involving the intestinal tract itself. The term "systemic" (or extraintestinal) refers to complications involving other organs or complications that affect the patient as a whole -- rather than just the bowel.

Systemic complications -- which include fever, weakness, and loss of appetite -- are a reflection of the inflammation in the small intestine and/or colon. But there are also some people with IBD who suffer from certain types of arthritis, skin conditions, inflammation of the eye, liver and kidney disorders, and bone loss. Of all the extraintestinal complications, arthritis is the most common. Joint, eye, and skin complications often occur together. For unknown reasons, the extraintestinal or systemic manifestations may predominate in children and even overshadow the intestinal symptoms, which may make diagnosis even more difficult.