What Is the Percent of People With Crohn's Disease?

Crohn's disease is an auto-immune disease in which the digestive tract attacks itself. The disease causes inflammation of the affected area of the digestive tract leading to symptoms, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, cramps, heartburn and nausea. Though the disease does not affect a large part of the population, its prevalence has been increasing over the past several years.

History

• Crohn's disease was named for Burrill B. Crohn, M.D., who identified the disease in 1932. The disease had been recognized in 1913 by a Scottish surgeon named T. Kennedy Dalziel, M.D., who documented at least nine cases of "intestinal enteritis (inflamed intestinal tract)." However, the disease was not named until Crohn, with two associates, Leon Ginzburg, M.D., and Gordon Oppenheimer, M.D., published a paper detailing the features of the disease. They determined the disease was not caused by a mycobacterial infection as previously thought. Crohn determined the condition to be an auto-immune disease.

Types

• Crohn's disease is one of two conditions known as Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD), the second being ulcerative colitis (UC). Unlike ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease can affect any part of the digestive tract, including the esophagus and mouth. It most commonly appears in the terminal ileum at the end of the small intestine, where it joins with the colon. Ulcerative colitis only affects the colon.

Statistics

• Crohn's disease affects less than 1 percent of the population. According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, there are 162 cases of Crohn's disease per 100,000 people, with an average of about seven new cases diagnosed in the United States and Europe each year. Currently, there are approximately 500,000 people in the United States with Crohn's disease. There is a higher prevalence of Crohn's disease in developed nations, particularly the United States and Europe. According to "The British Medical Journal," the incidence of Crohn's disease in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Iceland and Finland doubled in the time period between 1955 and 1995.

Features

• Crohn's disease can emerge at any age, but it is most often diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 35. It appears nearly equally in both men and women. People of Jewish decent are four times more likely to have Crohn's disease. It is the most common amongst Caucasians, with approximately 90 percent diagnosed being Caucasian. African Americans are the second highest. It is found the least often amongst Hispanics and Asians. People who have a close relative with IBD are 30 times more likely to be diagnosed with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.

Causes

• In 2009, the cause of Crohn's disease remained unknown. Research is being conducted to determine what causes the intestine to suddenly start attacking itself. It is this abnormal immune reaction that causes the inflammation and symptoms of Crohn's disease. Factors, such as genetics, environment and antigens, could all contribute to the severity of the inflammation, but, thus far, the trigger for the disease remains a mystery. Contrary to old beliefs, Crohn's disease is not brought on by diet or by stress.