Chrones Disease in Children

A large percentage of those people who have Chrones Disease are children, as well as a high percentage of people with Ulcerative Colitis are also children and it is not that uncommon to see an example of a child with Chrones at only 7 years old and it is thought that in all Chrones Disease cases, 20% are affecting children under 15.

Chrones can have different problems for children, like Nutritional deficiency this is especially seriouse for children as they are still growing and Crohn's disease in children can actually lead to stunted growth. If you are a child with Chrones, your doctor may recommend nutritional supplements. There has also bee some recent research where children with Chrons disease have been helped with a growth hormone, this research is still in it's infancy, but the initial findings have been encouraging.

There is no difference in the number of boys or girls that get Chrones Disease, but children who are born into a family with a history of the disease are far more likely to develop Chrones and possibly at an early age.

Apart from the growth problems faced by children with Chrones disease, it is also very important to remember that a child with Chrones disease will have to face certain self image issues which can be particularly important for them at this time in their development. Chrones disease will separate them from normal child activities and therefore,these children will need a strong support base from their family, friends and doctors to help them not only with their physical health , but with their social and mental well being.

A great book for any family who has a Child with Chrones disease is Managing Your Child's Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis by Keith J. Benkov (Author), Harland S. Winter (Author)

USA: Amazon.com
Managing Your Child's Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis


UK: Amazon.co.uk
Managing Your Child's Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

Do Additives Cause Chrones Disease Problems ?

In Australia, some research has found that infant milk formula containing added fruit sugars could be the cause to some stomach disorders like Chrones disease, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis in children.

Apparently, some of the new children's milk formula, including big brands like Nutricia and Aptamil contain prebiotics which are supposed to improve the digestion such as fructose could actually be doing more harm that good. This is especially the case for children who may already be susceptible to diseases like Chrones disease.

A Gastroenterology expert, Prof Peter Gibson is concerned about the trend towards adding prebiotics to children's formula. He says that "Excessive intake of sugars that escape digestion and absorption in the small intestine contribute to susceptibility and symptom generation in Chrones disease, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis."

In the Western diet, The excessive intake of these sugars is common, This could possibly be one of the reasons why Chrones disease is so uncommon in places like Africa?

People with Chrones disease or IBS who remove these foods from their diet seem to get allot better. Prof Peter Gibson's team measured the prebiotic contents of food in the Australian diet in order to generate a nutritional database. The study found more than half of the 52 patients with Chrons disease who removed prebiotics from their food improved their symptoms. So it seems that prebiotics which provide good bacteria to maintain good digestive health but are likely to make Chrones disease and IBS symptoms worse.

A link between Farm Animals and Chrones Disease?

Some recent research suggests that Early exposure to farm animals lowers the risk of Chrones Disease or ulcerative colitis (IBD)

The conclusions of a German study published in the journal Pediatrics say that if you are exposed to farm animals often when a child or baby you are less likely than others to develop Chrones disease or ulcerative colitis during your childhood. This is according to the findings .

Chrones Disease in Germany
In Germany there are over 10000 children and young adults who suffer from either chrones disease or ulcerative colitis (inflammatory bowel disease / IBD) according to Dr. Katja Radon at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich.

Chrones Disease in the first world
In industrialized countries like the UK, Germany and the USA, there has been a recent increase in Crohn's disease (a type of inflammatory bowel disease) suggests that there are environmental factors that contribute to chrones disease.

The German team examined the link between contact with farm animals as a baby and the development of Chrones disease or ulcerative colitis in childhood. The findings were analysed for 748 people with IBD, 444 with Chrones disease, 304 with ulcerative colitis and 1,481 healthy children who were used as the control.

The restults showed that the children with inflammatory bowel disease were more likely than the control children to live in urban areas and regular contact with farm animals during the first year of life was inversely associated with IBD, the investigators report.

The children with chrones disease or ulcerative colitis were about 50 percent less likely to have regular contact with farm animals in infancy compared with the healthy children.So these findings seem to indicate that contact with farm animal during infancy is one of the major factors protecting children against allergies and might also decrease the risk of Chrones Disease or ulcerative colitis in children Radon's team concludes. The findings also back up the theory that allergic diseases and IBD might have similar paths of development.

Chrones Disease source: Pediatrics, August 2007.

Gene variant raises risk of Chrones disease

At a children's hospital in Philadelphia, Pediatric researchers in a have identified a gene variant that raises the risk of Chrones disease amongst Children.

Some German researchers had also previously found the same gene variant in the adult form of Chrones disease and this new research backs up their findings.

"Because Chrones disease is complex, with multiple genes interacting with each other and with environmental factors, it's important to sort out specific genes and to replicate previous findings," said the study's first author, Robert N. Baldassano, M.D., director of the Center for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Children's Hospital. "There are different types of Chrones disease, so classifying types by genetic profiles may help us select the most appropriate treatments for each patient."

The comprehensive study compared the genomes of One hundred and forty three children with Chrones disease to genomes of 282 children who did not have the disease. In the results, they discovered that Sixty four percent of children with Crohn's disease had a specific variant form of the gene ATG16L1, compared with 52 percent of the healthy children. The odds ratio for children with the gene variant was 1.62 compared to control children, all this means that children who have the variant are 62 percent more likely to have Chrones disease than children with the more common form.

I guess the more studies done like this will all lead to more understanding of Chrones disease and hopefully lead to better treatments and possibly a cure one day.

Children with Chrones Disease

The current research shows that Chrones disease is more common in children than previously thought. This also seems to be true for cases of ulcerative colitis. Most of the new diagnosed cases of Chrones disease are in children and it is becoming more and more common to find examples of chrones in children as young a 7.

The statistics show that about 20% of all cases of Chrones disease affects children under the age of 15.

With children with Chrones Disease, one of the most serious problems is that of Nutritional deficiency which can also lead to stunted growth.

The doctor of a child who has chrones disease may suggest nutritional supplements, especially for children whose growth has already been stunted or slowed.

Crohn's disease affects boys and girls equally but children who are born into a family who have a history of Chrones disease are far more likely to develop chrones than other children as there is a clear genetic link, the symptoms of chrones disease may also show at an early age.

It is also important to remember that children with chrones disease will have to face many more problems growing up than children without the disease, this includes the physical difficulties and the self image issues.

Chrones disease will change a child's normal routine and may separate them from normal child activities. So it is very important that children with chrones disease have a strong support base from family, friends, and doctors.

UK: Get Managing Your Child's Chrones Disease and Ulcerative Colitis from Amazon.co.uk

USA, Australia and Canada: Get Managing Your Child's Chrones Disease and Ulcerative Colitis from
abebooks.com