Can Crohn's disease be inherited by the next generation?

Written by Huang Gang
Gastroenterology
Updated on April 01, 2025
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The causes of Crohn's disease are not yet fully understood, but it is currently believed to be caused by the interaction of many factors, including environmental factors, genetic factors, infections, gut microbiota, and immune factors. The incidence of Crohn's disease in first-degree relatives of patients is significantly higher than in the general population. Therefore, it is considered that Crohn's disease is both a polygenic disease and a genetically heterogeneous disease. Individuals with genetic susceptibility may develop the disease under certain environmental influences. Thus, it appears that Crohn's disease has a certain genetic predisposition and can be inherited by the next generation. The typical symptoms of Crohn's disease include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. Generally, the course of the disease progresses slowly, often presenting a chronic active phase alternating with remission, tends to be incurable, and has a lifelong tendency to recur. Currently, there is a lack of effective curative treatments for Crohn's disease. The primary approach is drug treatment to control the activity of the disease, maintain disease remission, prevent complications, and avoid intestinal damage.

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Differential Diagnosis between Intestinal Tuberculosis and Crohn's Disease

Intestinal tuberculosis often exhibits symptoms of extraintestinal tuberculosis, whereas Crohn's disease generally does not show signs of extraintestinal tuberculosis. Recurrence of intestinal tuberculosis is not common, whereas Crohn's disease has a longer duration and alternates between remission and relapse. Fistulas, abdominal abscesses, and perianal lesions are relatively rare in intestinal tuberculosis, but Crohn's disease may involve fistulas, abdominal masses, and perianal lesions. Tuberculin skin tests may be positive in patients with intestinal tuberculosis, while in Crohn's disease patients, the test may show a weakly positive result. After antituberculosis treatment, symptoms in patients with intestinal tuberculosis can significantly improve, whereas there is no significant improvement in symptoms in Crohn's disease patients following antituberculosis treatment. Furthermore, histopathological examination in patients with intestinal tuberculosis may reveal Mycobacterium tuberculosis and caseous necrosis. In contrast, Crohn's disease patients show negative results for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in pathologic testing and do not exhibit caseous necrosis.

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Can Crohn's disease be transmitted between spouses?

Firstly, Crohn's disease is not contagious and cannot be transmitted between people. Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease related to autoimmunity. The cause is still unclear, and currently, the medical community does not know what causes it. The main symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea, and abdominal masses. A colonoscopy can definitively diagnose this disease. Under colonoscopy, longitudinal deep ulcers can be seen on the mucosa of the intestines, which can be diagnosed as Crohn's disease. Currently, there are no specific drugs for the treatment of Crohn's disease, and treatment is very challenging and prone to relapse. Therefore, there is no particularly good treatment method or effective cure for this disease in the medical community at present.

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Written by Ren Zheng Xin
Gastroenterology
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Crohn's disease is called for short what

Crohn's disease is abbreviated as CD in English, and it is also known as segmental enteritis, localized enteritis, or granulomatous ileocolitis. The clinical symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, intestinal obstruction, fever, and nutritional disorders. It can affect organs such as the joints, skin, and liver. Complications can often include intestinal obstruction, malabsorption, acute perforation, and rectal bleeding. Clinically, it can be diagnosed through routine blood tests, blood gas analysis, colonoscopy, barium enema, CT scans, etc. Dietary guidelines generally include eating smaller, more frequent meals and a low-fat diet. The treatment principle is a combination of medication and surgery.

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Can people with Crohn's disease drink honey?

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease, the exact cause of which is not very clear, and honey is safe to consume. The dietary principle generally involves eating small frequent meals, favoring low-fat, high-calorie foods. You can eat vegetables like carrots, yams, and potatoes, and should avoid raw, cold, spicy, and irritating foods such as onions, chili peppers, bean products, and leeks. The symptoms of Crohn's disease primarily include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, and nutritional disorders. Currently, the disease is managed with a combination of medication and surgery to actively prevent complications. However, symptoms can recur frequently, and the disease course can be prolonged. It’s important to maintain reasonable work and rest habits and avoid excessive fatigue. (Please follow the guidance of a professional physician for medication usage.)

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Early symptoms of Crohn's disease

Early symptoms of Crohn's disease include abdominal pain and diarrhea, abdominal masses, and may also be accompanied by fever, anemia, and digestive nutritional disorders, and can affect joints, eyes, skin, and other organs. Some patients may have iritis, clubbed finger arthritis, oral ulcers, and chronic hepatitis. Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease of unknown cause, commonly occurring in the ileum and right half of the colon, with a tendency to be prolonged and recurrent, and is not easy to cure completely. Currently, treatment mainly involves medication combined with surgery to prevent complications. It is important to rest adequately and maintain a reasonable diet. (Please use medication under the guidance of a professional physician.)