Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week 2017

The 1^st to the 7^th December sees individuals from all over the world coming together to speak up, step up and stand together to raise awareness of Crohn’s and colitis.

#myIBD is being used to highlight the fact that no two individuals’ experiences of IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) are the same and that everyone’s story is unique. For this reason, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation have developed an infographic generator which your patient can access to create their own IBD story.

The mission statement for Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week 2017 is about uniting the IBD community with the goal of raising awareness and education the general public about inflammatory bowel diseases in the hope that one day these diseases will be a thing of the past.

What are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis?

“Known collectively as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are painful, medically incurable diseases that attack the digestive system, causing abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, fever, and weight loss. The effects of these diseases are largely invisible, which is why we need to make #IBDvisible!

Crohn's disease may attack anywhere along the digestive tract, while ulcerative colitis inflames only the large intestine (colon). In addition to the impact on the GI tract, in some patients, IBD may also affect the joints, skin, bones, kidneys, liver, and eyes.”