*I PLEDGE THAT EVERY DAY IN OCTOBER (BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH) I WILL POST A FACT ABOUT CROHN'S DISEASE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CD*
1.Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the World.
2. The most common age to be diagnosed is anywhere between 15 to 25 but approximately 10% of those with Crohn's disease are under 18 years of age.
3. Crohn's Disease is similar to Colitis, making it difficult to diagnose. The difference is that Colitis infects superficial layers, while Crohn's Disease infects multiple layers of tissue.
4. Many children do not present with classic abdominal/intestinal symptoms. Most first present with growth issues.
5. Crohn's also causes three different types of inflammation of the eye (episcleritis, scleritis, and uveitis)
6. The illness has several names: ileitis, regional enteritis, ileocolitis, and Crohn's colitis (for disease solely in the colon).
7. As is the case with many digestive diseases, people are quick to assume that the cause of Crohn's is stress. However, most doctors tell their patients that this is simply false. Stress can affect the patient much the same as it does with any other major disease but is not the cause of the illness.
8. Smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop Crohn's disease.
9. Women with Crohn’s disease can become pregnant and have a baby. Even so, women with Crohn’s disease should talk with their health care provider before getting pregnant. Some medications used for CD can harm an unborn baby.
Of course. Why wouldn't I have another incurable, chronic disease? I already have Crohn's Disease, why wouldn't I also have Hemachromatosis?
A few weeks ago (mid-August to be exact) I got a call from my GI doc's office saying that she wanted me to do a special blood test. The receptionist was very sweet, reassuring and saying that I just had a little higher iron count in my blood and Dr. P wanted to rule anything out. I got the test done and 17 vials later I was convinced she was OVER testing.
I went to see her in mid-September and she still hadn't gotten the results back. But she didn't seemed worried, so neither was I.
So this morning I get a call and it turns out the reason it took so long to get the results was because they were doing extra testing to see what KIND of Hemachromatosis I have.
What is Hemachromatosis you ask?
Well, essentially and in a nutshell it means that my body stores too much iron from the food I eat. The total iron content in the body can reach as high as 50 g (at last check I was at 33 g), compared with the normal levels of about 2.5 g in women and 3.5 g in men that do not have this disease. All of this iron builds up in the blood, heart, joints, liver and other organs. It can be life threatening if not treated.
The only treatments available are eating less iron and get a phlebotomy procedure done regularly to remove some of the blood in your body.
This is all I really know right now based on about an hour of quick Google searching. I am waiting on a dietician appointment at my local hospital.
I'll keep you posted....
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