This viewer asks, what is Crohn's Disease and are there any alternative medicine treatments
to help? Well Crohn's disease is one of two inflammatory bowel diseases which are
more general topics. The other is ulcerative colitis. And these are two situations that
can cause pain, diarrhea, bleeding from the bowl. And both are concerning, both can have
genetic or familial aspect to them so they can run in families.
And they're not always easy to differentiate which one is which. Crohn's tends to have
more pain and ulcerative colitis tends to have more blood but you know that's not
fully explanatory. So I always look from an alternative medicine standpoint you're always
looking at what are the causes? What's underlying this?
And in part, one of the medical treatments is sulfas, non-absorbed sulfa antibiotics
and they help reduce some of the bacterial irritation. But abnormal microbes from bacteria,
parasites, and yeast can cause irritation in the bowels, as can foods.
And it's really important you know to look at food allergies or food reactions which
you can do through blood testing, through skin testing and you can also do it through
an elimination diet.
You know, if you go off some of the common reaction like wheat and dairy, sugar, sometimes
peanuts and soy and you can have improved symptoms well that's a good sign. And I
see that often and I think it's important for you to check with your doctor about options
for you to look at for improving and reducing your symptoms and you know this can happen.
There are herbs that can help calm and soothe the digestive tract, also. Aloe vera juice
is one, marshmallow root is a soothing herb for the intestinal lining. DGL you know also
which is a licorice extract can help soothe the membranes. But one of the issues also
in natural medicine, we want people to have good, adequate hydrochloric acid and many
times when you have symptoms of digestive upset you're taking antacids or acid blockers
and that may not always be in your best interest so you know, and some people actually need
additional hydrochloric acid to help break down their proteins and fats.
So overall, we want to look at causes when dealing with Crohn's disease or any inflammatory
bowel disease and you know look at diet, look at abnormal microbes in the body, and talk
to your practitioner about that and see if they can help you sort that out and find a
helpful treatment for you.