My Brother's Diagnosis with Crohn's and Information About This Disease

My brother was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease the middle of November and spent several days in the hospital on IV antibiotic therapy and anti-inflammation medications. We have since learned that Irritable Bowel Diseases (IBD) commonly affect members of the same family. In our family, our late father had colitis. According to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, if you have a relative who has one of these diseases, you are 10 times more likely to get this disease. I was shocked to learn that my chance of getting this disease is 30 times more likely, since it is my sibling who has the disease. Persons with IBD Diseases are also more at risk for Colon Cancer and its related syndromes and I have already experienced pre-cancerous colon polyps. This was found on my first colonoscopy and I will not be missing the follow-up colonoscopy, which is coming up the first of 2008. Persons who have pre-cancerous polyps are told to repeat the test in three years instead of the normal five-year interval.

Here is some of the information I have learned about the disease and an interview with my brother, who also has Diabetes and along with doctors will have to manage the effects of both diseases, as well as medication interactions.