Gastro-Intelligence: Part 2 – Crohn’s Disease
I heard a rumor that Crohn’s disease is a “clean” disease. As in, it really only strikes what we’d call western or civilized or industrialized countries—also known as a disease of affluence. This is of course speculative and hardly verified. But because Crohn’s now affects someone very dear to me, the possibility of our high processed diet contributing to it really annoys the shit out of me in principle.
Maybe I’ll attempt to—inevitably unsuccessfully—bask in the alternative scenario which would be that uncivilized people don’t even GET to Crohn’s because of the myriad of other complications they’re battling to survive.
Either way, here’s a little bit about it:
Crohn’s is the inflammation of the small intestine (or elsewhere along the digestive tract) which can cause a great deal of abdominal pain. Bowel obstruction, tissue thickening, diarrhea, fistule formation, fatigue, weight loss, mal-nutrition and other complications result from it. It can be remiss so patients can live somewhat normal lives. It also can potentially lead to other horrible things I can’t really bring myself to type out here.
It sucks.