World IBD Day

Today just so happens to be World Inflammatory Bowel Disease Day!!  Can you see me throwing my hands up in the air?!?!  No?  OK, let’s be honest.  I wouldn’t say this is a celebration-filled day.  No parties.  No shout outs.  There’s not much to celebrate about IBD.  But hopefully this day can bring greater awareness of IBD, the struggles facing those who have it, and greater hope for better treatment and a potential cure.  Now that would definitely make me throw my hands up in the air!

So, to do my part, here are a few tidbits of enlightenment:

• Inflammatory Bowel Disease is NOT the same as Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
• IBD is a group of inflammatory diseases that includes Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
• Crohn’s Disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract.  It commonly occurs at the end of the small bowel (the ileum) and the beginning of the colon, but can occur anywhere along the entire gastrointestinal tract.  It can affect the entire thickness of the bowel.  The inflammation of the intestine can “skip”-- leaving normal areas in between patches of diseased intestine.
• Ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease of the large intestine, also known as the colon, in which the lining of the colon becomes inflamed and develops tiny open sores, or ulcers, that produce pus and mucous.
• IBD affects an estimated 1.4 million Americans.
• There are different medicines to help treat the symptoms of IBD – from steroids (like Prednisone), to immunosuppressants (like Humira) – but there is no cure.

(This information courtesy of CCFA.org)

And a little enlightenment strictly from me: Crohn’s disease stinks! 

Happy IBD Day everyone!