Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are similar. They're often mistaken for one another. Both inflame the lining of your digestive tract. Both can cause severe bouts of watery or bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain. But Crohn's disease can occur anywhere in your digestive tract. Crohn's disease often spreads deep into the layers of affected tissues. Ulcerative colitis usually affects only the innermost lining of your large intestine (colon) and rectum.

In 1932 the American doctor Burrill B. Crohn and his associates first offered the description of a disease characterized by an inflammatory reaction of the bowel, usually affecting the ileum, the colon, or another part of the gastrointestinal tract. Crohn's disease is a chronic, nonspecific, occurring without known cause gastrointestinal inflammatory disease named after Burrill B. Crohn.

Crohn's disease is sometimes referred as regional enteritis, ileitis or ileocolitis: regional enteritis because it may be characterized by segments of diseased bowel with sharp borders on the affected regions; ileitis if only the ileum is involved; and ileocolitis if both the ileum and the colon are involved.

Crohn's disease is an inflammation upon the deeper layers of the intestinal wall while Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes inflammation and sores, called ulcers, in the lining of the rectum and colon. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease cause similar symptoms that often resemble other conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome. The inflammation may extend to other areas of the bowel or to the stomach, duodenum or mouth. In the advanced stages of the disease complications may include arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, kidney and liver disease, and skin and eye disorders. The formation of fistulas from the diseased bowel to the anus, vagina, skin surface, or other loops of the bowel is common.

Crohn's disease also can affect other parts of the body. These complications include various forms of arthritis, kidney stones, gallstones, skin problems, inflammation in the eyes or mouth, or other diseases of the liver and billiary system.

Crohn’s disease is characterized by frequent attacks of diarrhoea, severe abdominal pain, nausea, fever, chills and weakness. Children with the disease often suffer retarded physical growth.

Since there is no known Western medical cause for Crohn's disease, there is no specific therapy available. Drug treatment focuses on relieving the symptoms.

There are many theories about what causes Crohn's disease, almost all of them have not been proven. One theory is that some agent, perhaps a virus or a bacterium, affects the body's immune system to trigger an inflammatory reaction in the intestinal wall. Although there is a lot of evidence that patients with this disease have abnormalities of the immune system, doctors do not know whether the immune problems are a cause or a result of the disease.

Possible risk factors for Crohn's disease include immunologic factors; infectious agents (such as bacteria, virus or amoeba); and dietary factors (including chemicals and drugs). Crohn's disease usually begins before age 35, with peak incidence between 14-24 years of age. Crohn’s sufferers do tend habitually to consume more sugar and less raw fruit, vegetables and dietary fibre.

From a Traditional Chinese Medicne point of view Crohn's disease may be caused by constitutional deficiencies, invasion of the exterior pathogenic factors, or unbalanced diet. Constitutional deficiencies usually refer to spleen and kidney deficiencies. These result in patterns of damp heat; spleen deficiency; spleen and kidney deficiencies; and qi and blood stagnation.

Invasion of exterior pathogenic factors refers to excessive dampness injuring yang and the accumulation of damp-heat in the intestine. Invasion of damp heat in the large intestine is characterized by an acute and sudden onset of gastrointestinal symptoms. Damp heat may be indicated by diarrhea; presence of mucous and blood in the stool; foul-smelling stools; yellow urine; and abdominal fullness and pain. Defecation is characterized by extreme urgency, an urgent desire to defecate and an inability to do so, and a burning sensation of the anus after passing the stool. As heat travels upwards, patients may feel irritable, thirsty, and have a preference to drink cold water. The tongue is dark red with a yellow, greasy coat; the pulse is wiry, slippery or rapid.

Spleen deficiency may be due to constitutional deficiency or secondary due to excessive intake of cold and raw food. Unbalanced diet high in raw or cold injures the spleen and stomach and obstructs their functions in transforming and transporting food and nutrients. Patients with chronic Crohn's disease usually have spleen deficiency that is distinguished by a compromised ability of the spleen to transform and transport food. The patient will have symptoms such as frequent and severe diarrhea; watery stool with undigested food; dull abdominal pain; poor appetite; poor digestion; and gastric discomfort after eating. Sallow facial appearance, fatigue and lethargy are due to chronic malabsorption and malnutrition. The tongue is pale with a white coat; the pulse is soft and weak.

Spleen and kidney deficiencies may be due to constitutional deficiency or secondary due to chronic nature of the illness. One diagnostic key of spleen and kidney deficiency is early morning diarrhea around 5:00 am. In addition, patients may have abdominal pain that increases with cold but decreases with defecation. Patients may also have intolerance to cold and cold extremities. The tongue is pale with a white coat; the pulse is thready and weak.

Qi and blood stagnation apears in an acute phase of Crohn's disease in which the patient has severe abdominal pain and fullness with a palpable mass in the right lower quadrant. This condition mimics acute appendicitis. Patients may experience diarrhea, lack of appetite, muscle wasting and lethargy. The tongue is dark purple with petechia; the pulse is thready and knotted.

I've had Crohn's disease for about 13 years. Throughout this time, I went to see many doctors at off and on times to determine what was wrong with me. No one could ever diagnosis me so I was always told I had upset stomach or anxiety.
The year of 2005 was a particularly bad year for me with symptoms such as diarrhea and stomach pains consistently throughout the year. I could have up to 13 bowel movements on a normal day. I thought I had gotten food poisoning more than anyone I knew. The symptoms were affecting both my personal and professional life by keeping me tied to a bathroom at all times. I noticed symptoms were always worsened when I consumed coffee, alcohol or any greasy and fattening food. I would also feel especially bad if I was stressed. Any common day-to-day anxiety would cause immediate diarrhea and sometimes vomiting.
I had another GI examine me in the fall of 2005, this time with more success. He was the first doctor to suggest I had an IBD, Crohn's or colitis. I schedule a colonoscopy for the week following thanksgiving. The colonoscopy and the week of holiday eating that led up to happened to cause the worst flare up I had ever experienced. I was hospitalized that day and began my first year of coping with the Crohn's disease I was finally diagnosed with.

Months of a limited diet and lots of medication did nothing to improve my symptoms. I was seeing a nutritionist whose goal was to make me put weight back on before understanding what I could and could not digest. I was also seeing my Gastroenterologist regularly who continued to prescribe more and more medication for the problems that seemed to increase with every additional pill that I took. Not only was I dealing with diarrhea, but now I had constant fatigue and extreme depression, extreme weight loss and occasional and uncontrollable fainting spells.

After I ended up in the hospital again, I gave up on the "Western Medicine Approach". I stopped taking all my medication and started to consider a holistic approach. I had heard of acupuncture but I wasn't sure if anything could be done to help me after 13 years of suffering.

After just one appointment with Dr. Yang, I felt a vast improvement. I had my first solid bowel movement since my diagnosis and I started to see improvements after my first month of twice-weekly visits with Dr. Yang and started to research diet effects on Crohn's and what a more suitable test diet would be. I used the "Maker's Diet" by Jordan Rubin as my guide.

The combination of acupuncture and the right diet was the answer. In the six months that have passed since I started acupuncture, my life has improved beyond description. I feel healthy, happy and as if I finally have control over my disease. Dr. Yang has put my Crohn's into remission without the aid of any medication. Consistency with my visits to her, taking the herbs she prescribes and sticking to the proper diet is key.

My visits with Dr. Yang are the most relaxing and comforting part of my week. I will be forever grateful for what she has done to help put me into remission.

Laura C. New York City, NY.