I would be dead.

[Zalanicht]

Now thinking about it the only reason why I'm alive is because of modern medicine. From how serious my Crohn's got in a short amount of time without my surgery I would be dead. Same go with all this medication that does help.
It's just really trippy to think about. It's like I'm on the tried to be scrubbed out side of evolution lol. Kind of weird way to think about it but whatever haha.

 

[Lisa]

Yep - kind of weird to think about that.....I would hae been dead a Loooooooong time ago if it wasn't for modern meds!

 

[Astra]

me too!
I'd defo be dead!
and I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll always be on em!

 

[kello82]

yes i have thought of this before too.

i would have died when i was 7. thats when the diharrea and such got horribly bad, i would have died of dehydration as many people used to from such things.

see, this is slightly off topic, but THATS why every disease on the face of the planet is on the rise!! because people with the genes for disease, are living long enough to pass them on. right?!
without modern medicine, MANY people who carry disease in their genes would have died before childbearing age, thus snuffing out the line of faulty genetics.

but now....we are effectively cheating natural selection, which in my opinion, is highly important to the overall health of a species. its there for a reason, to eliminate the weak and the sick to ensure the continuation of the species as a whole.
but we are now in a phase of human history where EVERYone is allowed to live and pass on thier genes.

that is a scary thing in my opinion.

 

[Zalanicht]

ya Kello, that's what I was trying to get at and have been thinking about. And when I grow up and want to have children will I feel extremely guilty for passing on my bad genes to my children? It's very interesting to think about.

 

[katiesue1506]

This is why I'm doing my part by not procreating

 

[Crohn's 35]

My daughter is the same, too many diseases in the family...and she isn't maternal either lol... but the incidence is still very low, 5%. If you have two parents with IBD then it goes up to 50%.

 

[kello82]

i dont think i will have children either. if i want kids ill adopt.

i mean and even if i DO have kids and they DONT have crohns? they still carry the genes right?? just cause they dont develop it themselves doesnt mean the line ends there. at least i dont think so. they still carry faulty genes. idk at least at this moment in time, i dont think i could do that.

 

[ameslouise]

Interesting thoughts about natural selection and living long enough to pass along disease genes. Never thought of it that way before.

Not a day goes by that I don't have a major fear/panic about passing along this disease to my son.

-Amy

 

[Astra]

I've never worried about any of this at all, what will be will be
we could stop procreating forever, just in case our kids get something!
This is life, and there's not a lot we can do about it.
what would happen to the human race then?

 

[Rebecca85]

I can honestly say that without modern medicine I would NOT be dead now... I would never have been born! My childbirth was extremely traumatic for my mum and me (not that I remember it lol) and the docs had to intervene to save both our lives. But that sort of thing could happen to any baby, regardless of what genes they are carrying.

Besides, what about my 'good' genes?

 

[Vivvian's Mommy]

I have nearly lost my life 4 times...The time I was 16yrs. old Was my worse.My heart flat lined for minute straight.I am not able to have children because I am extremely high risk.So have started our family by adopting a beautiful baby girl and heading to adopt soon another hopefully.

 

[Mike]

When my mom was in labor I guess my cord kept going around my neck so I would be dead.

When it comes to Crohn's without modern medicine I would be down to about 19 pounds right now.

 

[DustyKat]

Oh boy, this is a really emotional one for me. I have no doubt in my mind that we were only 24 hours tops away from that scenario with Roo. Without the emergency surgery right at that time she wouldn't be with us.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

i dont think i will have children either. if i want kids ill adopt.

i mean and even if i DO have kids and they DONT have crohns? they still carry the genes right?? just cause they dont develop it themselves doesnt mean the line ends there. at least i dont think so. they still carry faulty genes. idk at least at this moment in time, i dont think i could do that.

I think that's how it works - not entirely sure myself. From what I know of my family history, my great-grandfather had UC. Then nothing for a couple of generations - then I get sick. So my dad & grandma are probably carrying those IBD genes and passed them to me, and I just happened to be unlucky enough for them to be "activated" or whatever? And I could potentially have kids who are healthy but they could still pass those faulty genes to their kids, grandkids, etc? What a scary thought - my health today could affect people who will be born after I die...

Back on subject, I don't think there's many people, IBD or not, who would have lived very long before modern medicine. I was curious so I looked it up, and found a link that says that the average life span in the Middle Ages was about 35 and that about 1/3 of the population died as children. So even if you made it to adulthood, you probably wouldn't have much time as an adult!

 

[planetjen]

Ha ha - we have totally undermined natural selection, that's for sure!
I hope my Miranda Jane inherits my singing voice and NOT my crohn's! darwinian issues aside, i am sure glad modern medicine has given me more days on this lovely wicked planet with the people I love.

 

[D Bergy]

I have a love/hate relationship with modern medicine.

I do give credit to modern surgical, some diagnostic procedures and treatments because they have saved my life, and the life of millions of people.

On the other hand, I was forced into treating my wife for Lyme disease because of too much reliance on inaccurate diagnostic testing, and too little clinical diagnostics, which seem to be slipping by the wayside. So I am somewhat bitter about that.

From me being the doctor experience, I have also found quite a few low to no risk treatments that do work, but are not accepted by modern medicine. Some work for things that cannot be cured by modern medicine, so that is tragic that they are not readily available for use by a professional.

A mixed bag, but I am glad I have both at my disposal.

Dan

 

[Rebecca85]

Kello and cat- Your children have a 50 50 chance of inheriting a particular gene off you (you have 2 copies of each chromosome, the child gets one from you and one from their dad) so there is a chance that the line does end there.

Of course this is slightly simplified since there are many genes thought to be implicated in Crohn's. But just because you have cd doesn't mean you will pass it on, or that your children will carry the gene even if they don't develop cd.

 

[reidyjo81]

I am with Joan on this one, if we worried about what illness our children got then no one would ever have them again. Strange thought. You have good genes too remember.
Jo x

 

[Guest]

i would definitely not be here without the emergency intervention of my life-savers back in 1986 - a team of top surgeons who rallied round and worked on me during 3 operations in 4 days - & when they'd done the best they could, it was up to my fight and fate as to whether i'd pull through or not.

i would also not be here without my loved ones... they don't know they've saved my life - but without them i would have opted out voluntarily a long time ago.

turning things around a bit, my youngest would not be here if not for me... when she was about 2 yrs old, she was choking and going blue.. i threw her over my knee and banged her back again and again until a drawing pin came shooting out of her mouth.

 

[Dexky]

I hate to give voice to this paranoid delusion but it's one of my biggest fears since EJ's dx. So many people, many of you included, depend so greatly on the uninterrupted and efficient distribution of meds. that any glitch in the system could be a nightmare scenario. I'm sure it's not a new thought to you all who've suffered for years but EJ's dx is the first serious illness anyone in my family has ever experienced.

And Kello and Cat, just because you don't have cd anywhere else in your family (like me) is no guarantee either.

 

[Crohn's 35]

Wow ding that brought back memories for me. When my daughter was two, my ex gave her a candy, and she was turning blue and I picked her up and did the hemlich (sp)manouver, was never taught but somehow I did it. How wierd the candy was a lifesaver??

I saved my year younger brother who was jumping on ice in the humber river and fell in, I was only 6 at the time, dont ask me how but I pulled him out of a strong current.


The other was my last boyfriend had chicken stuck in his throat and I did the same as my daughter. Looking back now lol.... Never had training and dont know where it came from but in tragic times I saved 3 lives. But...just move my salt and pepper shaker and you are dead meat. LOL

 

[Claire617]

I've never worried about any of this at all, what will be will be
we could stop procreating forever, just in case our kids get something!
This is life, and there's not a lot we can do about it.
what would happen to the human race then?

Most definitely agree with this Joan! Although I would consider adopting just to give a child a home, I haven't been in a life threatening situation yet however not being able to control it with meds, I'd definitely have checked out by now!

 

[Becky]

I've never worried about any of this at all, what will be will be
we could stop procreating forever, just in case our kids get something!
This is life, and there's not a lot we can do about it.
what would happen to the human race then?

^^^^ ditto

 

[katiesue1506]

I think it kinda depends on what runs in your family too. I've got Crohn's, mom has hypothyroid, theres many other autoimmunes in my family, dad has parkinsons disease, there's alzheimers, strokes and heart disease, cancers like pancreas and prostate. There are other reasons I'm not having kids, but to me I'd rather not have to put someone else through that pain.

 

[kello82]

dunno i appreciate the perspective that TOO much concern over passing on diseases is futile. like a few of you said, we cant just stop reproducing alltogether for fear of contaminating the race.

but idk, i just feel there must be somewhere in the middle. i feel that the human race as a whole is careless with its procreation. and i realize that ANY move to regulate this is a HUGE infringement on the rights of all humans, i mean i cant even imagine a world where you are "given permission" to make a new life. that is just wrong to me.
but theres a REASON why every other species on this planet competes to win the right to mate. a very very legitimate reason, i see it as a law of nature and we are severely bending it right now.
is THAT right? is it ok to break the laws of nature that every other species on earth follows, just so that human rights are maintained?

i dunno. such is the dilemma of mankind.

 

[katiesue1506]

Well I guess some of us care about passing on a disease and some of us don't. Its okay to disagree.

 

[Jennifer]

Well I guess some of us care about passing on a disease and some of us don't. Its okay to disagree.

It's not that I don't care. There are many factors to consider and I'm not one who thinks that only the strongest should survive. This may work best with animals but no longer applies to humans because of modern medicine which will only improve where we can some day find a cure for most if not all diseases where spreading a disease won't even be an issue.

 

[bobby.parker]

Medicine is natural. We have created it with what God has given us. We have evolved with what he has give us.

As for children, you think. pretend you're here as you are now. BUT your parent(s) had Crohn's. Would you rather be here now, know the people you know, love the people you do. Or not exist?

 

[kello82]

aw merr, im glad you are still with us.


yeah i mean i agree that human evolution and ingenuity IS natural. but i gues i feel there has to be a line somewhere or something. something we are doing is not jiving with the rest of the planet, its not balanced and we caused that. balance IS natural. least i think so.

 

[Zalanicht]

The way we're heading as a species as of right now I wouldn't give us that much time left here on Earth. So letting people live with Chronic life threatening diseases isn't bad I guess. We're all ****'d anyways.
PS Kello Cute cat! My cat always plays in bags n such as well. He loves xmas wrappings and boxes.

 

[Swirl]

With modern meds we're just able to deal with life a little easy until its our time to die.
And yeah it saved many lives.
I never think that hard through lol

 

[iminflamed]

Many of us would be dead if not for modern medicine, BUT...you all assume we are the weak ones but what about modern man's attempt to abolish everything that is innate from our primal lifestyle. Just how weak would we be if we didn't end up doing a lot of things we do today.

Let's see...we don't eat the foods we were designed to eat, we inject ourselves with diseases, we don't squat, we eat foods with hundreds of preservatives and foods that are genetically modified, we are too sedentary, we don't get enough sunlight, we use prescription drugs that, although will work in the short term, end up hurting us more in the long term.

Although most classify Crohns as strictly genetic, I doubt we would see the amount of cases of IBD we do today if we didn't do a lot of those things.

If modern man didn't make an attempt to exterminate literally everything which we are naturally supposed to be doing, I'd venture to say a great many of us wouldn't even be on this forum.

But again, that is the dilemma of living nowadays. A huge percentage of our population wouldn't survive without grains and milk, we wouldn't be able to feed the amount of mouths we do without those preservatives, a lot of people would be dead if it weren't for those vaccines.

Basically what I'm saying is, I don't really think we are weak we've just been screwed because of the way we live nowadays.

 

[Zalanicht]

Many of us would be dead if not for modern medicine, BUT...you all assume we are the weak ones but what about modern man's attempt to abolish everything that is innate from our primal lifestyle. Just how weak would we be if we didn't end up doing a lot of things we do today.

Let's see...we don't eat the foods we were designed to eat, we inject ourselves with diseases, we don't squat, we eat foods with hundreds of preservatives and foods that are genetically modified, we are too sedentary, we don't get enough sunlight, we use prescription drugs that, although will work in the short term, end up hurting us more in the long term.

Although most classify Crohns as strictly genetic, I doubt we would see the amount of cases of IBD we do today if we didn't do a lot of those things.

If modern man didn't make an attempt to exterminate literally everything which we are naturally supposed to be doing, I'd venture to say a great many of us wouldn't even be on this forum.

But again, that is the dilemma of living nowadays. A huge percentage of our population wouldn't survive without grains and milk, we wouldn't be able to feed the amount of mouths we do without those preservatives, a lot of people would be dead if it weren't for those vaccines.

Basically what I'm saying is, I don't really think we are weak we've just been screwed because of the way we live nowadays.

Ya like when you think about it we're all screwed no matter what cause of the ways things are going nowadays.

 

[Dras]

i dont think i will have children either. if i want kids ill adopt.

i mean and even if i DO have kids and they DONT have crohns? they still carry the genes right?? just cause they dont develop it themselves doesnt mean the line ends there. at least i dont think so. they still carry faulty genes. idk at least at this moment in time, i dont think i could do that.

That's correct, the gene is there but is resessive so you are just a carrier but not a sufferrer because you have a dominant gene that inhibits you from being sick. Your kids can still get it, but only if your husband has the disease or he is also a carrier.

 

[Rebecca85]

I didn't think Crohn's was as simple as that, so far they have found about 8 genes that seem to have an effect, also the figures don't match (if what you say is true, then with identical twins if one has the disease the other must have it).

 

[Misty-Eyed]

That's correct, the gene is there but is resessive so you are just a carrier but not a sufferrer because you have a dominant gene that inhibits you from being sick. Your kids can still get it, but only if your husband has the disease or he is also a carrier.

I think you might find that there's nothing to prove that the genes that are linked to Crohn's are autosomal recessive for Crohn's. Again, the genes are only linked to Crohn's anyway. It's not definitive that they are a causing factor.

 

[MADiMarc]

Yeah, I'd be dead too. I went from 130 pounds to 88 pounds in about 6 weeks. The only reason I am alive is do to a smart doc and drugs...perhaps a bit of stubborn on my part too!

As for having kids, I wanted them. I wanted lots of them. I come from a VERY large family and I thought 6 was a good number. Then Crohn's hit and my husband was not willing to take a chance of me becoming sicker or dying. I did and do understand. We adopted. Boy did we hit the jackpot! My baby is now giving me grandbabies to spoil!

Touchy subject but in the short time I have been on this forum, you all specialize in them! In a civil way too.

Michele

 

[Dras]

I think you might find that there's nothing to prove that the genes that are linked to Crohn's are autosomal recessive for Crohn's. Again, the genes are only linked to Crohn's anyway. It's not definitive that they are a causing factor.

My post was purely genetics 101 for diseases caused by a gene, whether or not it causes crohns... well... lets leave that discussion to the doctors.

 

[KellyMc]

Well I agree with both sides. I am not having kids by choice (tubal). I didn't do it becuase of the crohns but it is a plus that I will not have a child with crohns....I would hate to pass this on. I am the only one in my family (immediate and extended) that crohns. My GI was suprised about that....i just laughed and told him Im lucky that way

 

[Mountaingem]

This is why I'm doing my part by not procreating

Yeah KatieSue, I feel the same. It's a person decision, this is right for me and my husband, I don't judge others for making a different choice.

I'm grateful to modern medicine for saving my life multiple times; and even though I believe life is a gift, I've also had pain so severe and been so violently ill it felt more like a curse.

I can't knowingly pass it on; hubby and I went to a geneticist, took tests, results came back we have an 85% chance of passing on Crohn's to our kids-a degenerative form at that.

Like Kello, I'd rather adopt, plenty of kids need loving families.:thumright:

 

[vonfunk]

3 blood transfusions this summer. I would have been dead a long time ago.

I'm leaning towards adoption, I've had that notion for years. A small child that I can use to be the straight man for jokes and what not. Abbott to my Costello if you will.