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It Is A Mighty Challenge To Diagnose Crohn's Disease

By: Tammy Foster..

A disease in disguise, one that mimics other gastrointestinal diseases and a difficult challenge for healthcare providers, diagnosing Crohn's disease is most certainly a difficult task for healthcare providers. Become it mimics so many other diseases, Crohn's disease may initially be misdiagnosed as another G.I. ailments.

A battle of the wills... who is going figure it out first...the symptoms of Crohn's disease vary from person to person and naturally that does not make diagnosing it any easier.

While there is no one test that your doctor can perform that will conclusively identify Crohn's, it does not mean that your concerns should be blown of. Rather it means that your physician may simply have to look a little harder and differentiate a little more selectively when trying to get to the true source of your pain.

As your physician tries to determine if you do have Crohn's or not, one of the easiest medical exams to help on the journey is a stool sample. This sample can help your doctor to determine if your bowel upset is caused by an infection or by inflammation.

In the case of Crohn's disease, inflammation of the G.I. tract presents itself as if there is an infection but there is no infection present. So you can see by obtaining a simple stool sample several possibilities can easily be ruled out.

Well, once your physician has had a good look at your poop and has had a chance to see if it is infection or inflammation hiding within, the next thing on the "tests" to do is typically several other standardized tests. Some of those tests may include drawing blood to assess your complete blood count to check for signs of anemia due to blood loss and for signs of infection, a CT scan of your belly, or even a colonoscopy, a flexible sigmoidoscopy and perhaps a barium enema. Some physicians may also elect to have you get a small bowel x-ray series and even a capsule endoscopy.

Once your test results come back, your health care provider will review them thoroughly before discussing them with you. One of the key things to remember is that if your additional blood work indicates that an infection is present then it is less likely that you have Crohn's disease. However, if your blood work shows that anemia is present, then Crohn's disease is more of a possibility.

So you should already be able to see how difficult diagnosing Crohn's disease can be. However, just like putting the pieces of a puzzle together your physician should keep on going until a definitive diagnosis is made. You are worth it.

Crohn's disease symptoms can be a bit tricky and yet one of the commonly seen symptoms is bloody diarrhea or rectal bleeding. This bleeding is what can lead to abnormal lab work that beings to paint a picture of anemia because of the blood loss. These two pieces of information are important in getting the diagnosis right. So don't be embarrassed if you are experiencing rectal bleeding. For goodness sakes, tell the truth!

While a colonoscopy is no one's idea of a good time, this procedure, typically performed by a gastroenterologist, can give your physician a more definitive reason to believe that you have Crohn's disease. During this exam, your doctor will insert a flexible lighted tube with an attached camera through your rectum and into your colon to check for any evidence of Crohn's disease.

Of course, just as with all medical procedures, a colonoscopy has its risks. Obviously with this procedure two of the most common risks are G.I. bleeding and perforation of the colon wall, both of which can be extremely serious complications.

Here's the bad news though. Since Crohn's disease might only be evident in the small intestine and not rear its ugly head in the colon, well then a colonoscopy would be totally ineffective in diagnosing Crohn's disease. So, pity, all that uncomfortable exam for nothing definite!

Another medical exam that your physician may order is a flexible sigmoidoscopy. This exam, similar to the colonoscopy, occurs when your physician inserts a long tube into the rectum; however, this tube does not contain a camera. Your physician would use the lighted tube to look at the inside of the last 2 feet of the colon to see if there are any signs of Crohn's disease so that a definitive diagnosis could be made. The downfall of the flexible sigmoidoscopy is that it only looks at the last 2 feet of the colon and so if the evidence of Crohn's disease is located higher up in the colon then this exam is useless.

Well, it should be pretty clear by now that trying to definitely figure out if Crohn's disease is the culprit or not, is a bit like trying to discover the eye of the needle in a big ole haystack. So don't get irritated and rush your physician! Give 'em a chance to thoroughly figure it out before rushing to judgment.

Here's the deal. Crohn's disease is a tough diagnosis to nail down and yet with a dedicated and patient-focused physician, together you can decipher what is really bugging you. Inflammed gut, infected gut, either way, your physician can help you gain control of your GI health.

Article Source: http://www.health-fitness-for-all.com

For more important information on stomach pain visit a-stomach-pain.com There's information on stomach pain causes such as Crohn's disease and other articles at www.a-stomach-pain.com

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