About 20 percent of people with Crohn's disease have a blood relative with some form of inflammatory bowel disease. Crohn's Disease covers a spectrum of illness from early, relatively mild bowel inflammation to more destructive and even life-threatening disease. We have seen special problems with Crohn's patients. As the disease progresses, patients have increasing contact with physicians hospitals and tend to become passive and dependent. Often, food choices are poor, eating patterns are irregular, nutrition is compromised.
Energy is low and many patients become depressed.
Often physicians tell their patients to eat anything they like and institutional advice often discourages self-responsible action. Diet revision is discouraged. The dogmatic advice of orthodox institutions is clearly wrong but that does diminish the impact of this negative thinking on the patient. The first task of the Crohn's patient, family, spouse, friends is to become well informed about the diet revision path we are advocating, confirm your right and ability to take self-responsible action and begin the process of constructive change. The inflamed digestive tract is injured and does not work well.