Crohns is what? My whole immune system stinks?

[Mary]

I dont get it. Is it my whole immune system or just my intestines. When they say compromised does that mean with or without the medicines?

 

[My Butt Hurts]

The way I see it is that your immune system is working overtime, and doesn't know what part of your body to attack. It can be anywhere in your entire digestive tract from your lips/mouth to your anus. How it affects peoples eyes and other things, I don't know - but I have heard it does.
Isn't this just one heck of a disease? Sigh.

 

[Jennifer]

My mom always said that it was you entire immune system because I always got colds and viruses and it took me a long time to get better from them. I can't find any research at the moment that backs it up though. Everything that I've read only mentions the digestional track from the mouth to the anus being affected by our immune system by attacking good bacteria which help fight off foreign bodies like viruses and also the organs it was meant to protect causing inflammation, sores, fistulas etc. Although for some people, Crohns affects them differently by affecting the skin instead which would leave one to believe that it may affect the entire immune system. Its all really quite bizarre.

 

[DustyKat]

I would say it's your immune system in general hence the extraintestional manifestations. With Crohns it targets your disgestive tract, with UC your large bowel, with Multiple Sclerosis your nerves, with Rheumatoid Arthritis your joints and so on. Why it does this I don't know however I do believe there is a genetic link and perhaps it boils down to specific faults on specific genes that dictates which you get. (((shrug))).

Dusty.

 

[stefan]

There's apparently a fair bit of evidence to suggest that IBD is indeed autoimmune, ie where the immune system reacts to your body tissues rather than just the foreign bodies. There's still debate on this front since modern medicine still can't explain a great deal about how it all works, but looking my own case, I think I agree with this hypothesis.

My immune system has always been overactive, but until the chronic illness came along, this was just an advantage as I was never sick for long. That said, I know many others that have the opposite response to me, ie they've always had an under active immune system, as people have already posted here.

As for the extent of the autoimmunity, the frequency of the linkage of IBD with autoimmune/autoinflammatory skin conditions such as pyoderma gangrenosum, erythema nodosum & psoriasis and others such as rheumatoid arthritis & psoriatic arthritis would probably suggest that it's not always quite as localised as many of us may like to think.

It's probably a pretty good assumption that the immune system is involved somehow, and IBD probably meets the definition of autoimmune, as the successful use of immunosuppressants would suggest. However, as for what that actually means for individual people, everyone is different, and will often be contradictory, as is usually the case with discussions about IBD etiology.

There is still a lot of work to be done in regards to IBD etiology, but the same can be said for a lot of the current autoimmune or autoinflammatory conditions. It seems modern medicine can't yet explain the mechanisms behind these conditions as much as we'd like it to.

 

[Guest2]

Plus, these diseases seem to be ever evolving.

 

[wolfem]

I'd say it can effect everything because your gut is like your second brain. If the immune system isn't functioning properly (overworking) in that area than it can effect absorption and malabsorption can have an effect on a wide range physiological functions. This also might lead to imbalances in the gut fora which then can predispose you to pathogenic bacteria and other microbes. In a sense, the good bacteria (symbiotic commensalistic organisms) are there the protect you.

-Mary :smile:

____________________________
Diagnosed: Crohn’s December ‘09
Gastritis August ’09, TMJD 1992
Surgeries: 1-terminal ileum removal
Treatments: Current- pentasa
Past- pred. aciphex, ranitidine
Other: Multi-vitamin, calcium,
digestive enzymes, probiotics,
and fish oil