Crohn's Disease is Painful, But Can it Kill You

Crohn's Disease won't kill you. It may make you extremely uncomfortable and cause you some inconvenience. Or it will be very painful. But it won't cause you to die in an of itself. Complications arising from the illness, will cause you to die if left untreated over a period of time. Most complications are due to infection and the resulting inflammation. So it is best to stick to your treatment regimen, in order to control flare ups.

Experts tell us that the life expectancy for a man diagnosed with Crohn's is about 78 years, while for women life expectancy is 79 years. Both of those figures are pretty close to normal human life expectancies and there is no reason to assume that because you have Crohn's that you don't have very long to live following a positive diagnosis. The importance of following your treatment regimen along with the instructions given by your physician cannot be stressed enough. Working the program helps you live a longer and relatively normal life.

Educate yourself about the secondary complications and conditions associated with Crohn's that can lead to death if you're not careful. These include:

Common intestinal blockages, common gastrointestinal bleeding, stomach abscess, abdominal fistulas,

Bacterial infections centered in the intestines, peritonitis, intestinal cancer, inability to absorb nutrients, become wary if your doctor puts you on steroids, infections of any kind, bone fractures, bone loss or osteoporosis, arthritis, kidney or gall stones and liver disease.

Malabsorption or the inability to take in nutrients is of particular worry. This is caused by inflammation stemming from surgery or chronic diarrhea or certain dietary changes forced by food intolerance. Malabsorption can lead to a vitamin K deficiency. Vitamin deficiencies can also be caused by the use of the same antibiotics used to treat infections. Therefore it makes sense for Crohn's sufferers to take a high potency multivitamin as part of their treatment regimen. Consult with your physician to make sure he or she is testing for vitamin and mineral deficiencies including zinc, folic acid, B12, D and Iron to name just a few. A lack of these vitamins are an indication that food intake is abnormal and needs to be adjusted to stave off malnutrition.

Another important vitamin is Vitamin A which is needed for growth and cell repair especially in the lining of the big and small intestines. Some researchers have found that some Crohn's sufferers responded favorably when given doses of Vitamin A supplements sending some patients into remission. The tests and research on the effectiveness of Vitamin A are on going however, with the jury still out on the efficacy.