Crohn’s disease is a disease of unknown etiology characterized by transmural inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. It can affect any part of the digestive tract, but the terminal ileum is the most common, and the colon and anus also have more lesions.

In addition, it may also be accompanied by extraintestinal manifestations in the skin, eyes, joints, and other parts of the body. Patients often have symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, abdominal masses, and lesions around the anus.

Causes of Crohn’s Disease

The cause of Crohn’s disease is still unknown. It is currently believed that it may be related to infection, genetics, and immunity.

Mental stimulation, dietary factors, and unhealthy habits may all induce aggravation of the condition. Abdominal trauma or allergic reactions can act as pathogenic factors on the body, causing granulomatous lesions that proliferate lymphoid tissue, resulting in lymphatic infarction, ulcers, scars, fistulas, and other damage.

General Treatments for Crohn’s Disease

Develop good living habits, quit smoking and drinking, adjust your mentality, reduce stress, and emphasize nutritional support. Generally, you should give a high-nutrition and low-residue diet, and appropriately provide multiple vitamins such as folic acid and vitamin B12.

Severe patients may be advised to use an elemental diet or total parenteral nutrition, which in addition to nutritional support can also help induce remission.

If there is abdominal pain or diarrhea, anticholinergic drugs or antidiarrheal drugs may be used as appropriate, and antibiotics may be given to those with concurrent infections.

Dietary Recommendations for People with Crohn’s Disease

Generally, a high-nutrition and low-residue diet is given, which is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

• The staple food should be fine, such as Fuqiang flour, high-quality rice, etc. Foods made from coarse grains, such as cornmeal, are prohibited.
• Non-staple food can be lean meat, fish, chicken, eggs, etc. as the main source of protein. Milk should be limited during the active period. Do not eat flatulent foods, such as soybeans, onions, etc. For vegetables, choose potatoes and other root foods with low crude fiber.
• To correct potassium deficiency and anemia in the body, various vegetable juices, juices, oil-free broths, date soups, liver soups, etc. can be provided to supplement vitamins B, and C, inorganic salts potassium, iron, etc.
• To increase nutrition without increasing intestinal burden, the volume of food should be compressed as much as possible, and foods with higher nutritional value per unit amount should be selected, such as drinks instead of drinking water. You can also use two or more raw materials to make one meal.
• Food should be easy to digest. All kinds of food should be chopped and softened. Fried foods are prohibited. Braising, steaming, boiling, and stewing are suitable for cooking. It is forbidden to use various strong and stimulating condiments, such as chili peppers, to avoid irritation to the intestinal mucosa.

Crohn’s Disease Prevention

• Prevention can be carried out from several aspects such as daily life, diet, mental recuperation, and physical enhancement:
• In life, pay attention to being kind to others and having a peaceful mind.
• There should be rules in daily life.
• Fasting of raw, cold, and unclean food.
• Carry out appropriate physical exercise.
• Mental recuperation.
• If Crohn’s patients have fertility needs, genetic counseling can be provided.

Conclusion

If they can actively cooperate with treatment and develop a good lifestyle, the quality of life of most patients can be maintained in a satisfactory state. However, because there is currently no cure, the treatment effect is unsatisfactory, the disease course relapses and complications are severe and frequent. Some patients with severe disease are unable to maintain long-term curative effects after surgery, so their quality of life will drop sharply and their prognosis will be poor.

Therefore, the most important thing is to detect it early and control its development as soon as possible, so that it is easier to maintain a better living condition for a long time.