Crohn's disease is one of the toughest gastrointestinal (GI)diseases for healthcare providers to diagnose. The reason for this is because it is like a Trojan horse, hiding away while mimicking so many other GI conditions. So of course it is often tough to tell exactly what you are dealing with... mimics others and yet can still manage to make your life miserable!
Symptoms absolutely vary from person to person and there are no strict guidelines for physicians to follow that definitively point to a diagnosis of Crohn's disease. Therein lies the challenge.
There is not one absolute test that your health care provider can use in diagnosing Crohn's disease definitively and so diagnosing Crohn's disease becomes a bit of a puzzle.
So you think you have Crohn's disease? First thing is to get yourself to the doctor! One of the very first tests that your doctor will probably elect to perform is a simple test of your stool sample. It is a cheap and and easy to perform test. Your physician can take a look at your stool sample and determine whether the bowel issues you are experiencing are because you have a raging gut infection or if instead you are experiencing an inflammatory response in your bowel. Either way, this simple test can tell your health care provider a lot about your GI tract.
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.
A complete blood count can not only tell if are anemic or not, but it can also tell if you have an infection or not. Remember an infection typically points away from the diagnosis of Crohn's.
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!
Your physician may also elect to perform a colonoscopy. This procedure is generally done by a gastroenterologist trained in the procedure. After a stringent bowel prep prior to the exam, your physician and a will insert a flexible lighted tube with an attached camera through your rectum and into the 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.
There are a few downfalls with a colonoscopy, though. It is not a perfect test. Remember that Crohn's disease may only be found in the small intestine and so if that is your story then a colonoscopy simply won't do you any good.
So a colonoscopy may or may be the sure fire hit to tell you if you have Crohn's and so your doc may decide to instead order a flexible sigmoidoscopy. While it is pretty similar to the colonoscopy, the one major change is that this little tube does not contain a camera. With this exam 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. If your physician sees evidence of Crohn's in those last two feet of the colon, then a definitive diagnosis could be made. As with all tests, even the flexible sigmoidoscopy has some downfalls. The bad news is that Crohn's disease can hide higher up in the colon and so if that is the case, the the flexible sigmoidoscopy would be totally 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.
Because it mimics so many other diseases diagnosing Crohn's disease can be a challenge. However, it is a challenge that is certainly worth undertaking so that you can get back to being a healthy you.
Brak komentarzy:
Prześlij komentarz