Crohn's disease

For a lay person:

Crohn's disease is a long-term inflammatory bowel disease that can affect any part of the digestive tract. It causes flares of abdominal pain, diarrhoea, weight loss and tiredness.

For a trained medical person:

A transmural, segmental inflammatory bowel disease that may cause strictures, fistulae and abscesses. Diagnosis is by endoscopy, histology and imaging. Treatment includes corticosteroids for flares, immunomodulators and biologics for maintenance, and surgery for complications.

In Chinese medicine:

Flaws and Sionneau's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Damp heat stasis and stagnation; Damp heat brewing and binding. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: Get urgent care for severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, high fever or heavy bleeding.