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Overview Crohns Disease, also called regional enteritis, is a
chronic, episodic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affecting any
part of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus, with
varying symptoms between affected individuals. In most cases, it
affects the duodenum and ilieum of the small intestine, and
colon (which is a part of the large intestine). However,
according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, the
pattern of inheritance is not known.(11) Dietary and infection
causing factors are no longer thought to be a contributing cause
and are looked upon now as variables which aggravate the disease
which is already present in the GI tract. Many researchers and
doctors point to Crohn's Disease as being an autoimmune disease
with the immune system contributing to the damage of digestive
tract due to inflammation. Most of the cytokines in the Th1
classification such as TNF-a, interleukin-2 and interferon ? are
active in causing inflammati