Crohn’s Disease
This is a serious and unpleasant illness in which there is inflammation of an area of the small intestine. This induces cramps, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, irregularity of the bowels, slight fever and malaise. Weight loss and malabsorption of food follow. Some doctors have found that people with Crohn’s disease respond well to treatment for food intolerance.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
This covers a range of minor disorders of the gut, characterised by abnormal bowel function. Although the disease is not serious, its effects can be distressing and debilitating. Some people with IBS suffer mild diarrhoea, with gut pain and occasional constipation. Others suffer constipation frequently, with bloating and wind, and occasionally have diarrhoea. The symptoms often start after an intestinal infection. They rarely affect general health, and do not get worse or produce other symptoms as time goes by.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
This is a disease in which the joints and the surrounding tissues become inflamed and painful. It usually manifests itself first in the small joints of the hand, and is gradual in onset. The joints are painful, red, swollen and warm to the touch. Symptoms are usually worse in the morning. The normal course of the disease is to spread slowly to other joints, reaching the larger ones, such as the hip or shoulder, last of all. The joints become fixed and more swollen over time with wasting of the muscles and show characteristic changes under X-ray. The diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis is confirmed by specific blood tests. Some people with rheumatoid arthritis respond to treatment for food intolerance.
*40\117\8*
