Treatment to help bring Crohn’s disease into remission may include a combination of lifestyle changes, medications, and sometimes surgery.
Crohn’s disease is a chronic condition that causes inflammation in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This can lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody stool, fever, and fatigue.
The goal of treatment is to bring Crohn’s disease into remission and keep it there. There are multiple types of remission:
- Clinical remission is when a person no longer has noticeable symptoms.
- Endoscopic remission is when there are no signs of inflammation in an endoscopic exam, such as a colonoscopy.
- Histological remission is when there are no signs of inflammation on an intestinal biopsy, a laboratory test that examines a tissue sample.
A doctor may also order blood tests, stool tests, or other tests to check for signs of remission.
A person with Crohn’s disease or a caregiver can take the following quiz to test their knowledge of remission and the best strategies to get there.