Crohn’s disease is a very severe and chronic inflammatory disorder involving the gastrointestinal tract. Until the 1950s, this disease was very rare, but recent years have seen it increasing at a relatively fast rate.

Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It occurs most commonly in the ileum, but the inflammation affects the entire thickness of the GI wall which causes the bowel to thicken and frequently stenosed. With increasing severity, ulcers deepen and fissure in the oedematous mucosa, forming a cobblestone pattern. The affected areas are discontinuous and separated by apparently normal mucosa. The clinical symptoms of GD involve diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, fatigue, fever and frequent rectal bleeding.

Medical treatment for GD involve Cortisone, immunosupression drug, antibiotics and 70-80% of patient will require at least one operation. Medical treatments have relatively good success rate in controlling patients’ symptoms such as bleeding and pain, but have little or no success rate in curing the disease. The cause of this disease is very complex. Apart from involving environmental factors, it is also determined by genetic predisposition, epithelial injury or dysfunction and immune dysfunction. The environmental factors are determined by enterotoxic factor such as infection----parasites, bacteria, vaccines, viruses, fungi

Maldigestion-----toxic microbial metabolites, low short chain fatty acids and macromolecule exposure.

Chemicals----ethanol, cytotoxic drugs and NSAIDS
Nutritional insufficiencies---low level of zinc, glutathione, antioxidants, vitamine A, and EFA
Allergenic---food allergens, and chemical lectins in food
Stress---emotional, mental and physical imbalance and tension, hypoxia.The chronic exposure of the enterotoxic factors continuously induce epithelial cell injury and dysfunction, resulting in inflammatory cytokine production and bowel permeability and the bowel permeability further promote immune activation and tissue injury which eventually lead to the chronic stage of GD.

The treatment of GD in the field of natural medicine focus on reducing bowel and liver toxicity, increase gut immunity, reduce chemical exposure, increase nutritional sufficiency, eliminate allergens and reduce emotional and mental stress.

Live blood analysis called Hemaview and a urine test called the Indican performed by naturopath will indicate the level of bowel and liver toxicity in general. A complete bowel detoxification program will set up a solid foundation for the natural treatment of GD. At the mean time, a natural antiinfammatory substance is needed to reduce the current inflammation and reduce or eliminate rectal bleeding. Two products called Cartrin and Ultrainflammax are extremely effective in their antiinflammatory action. The combination of the two can get patient off their steroid drug relatively fast, usually within 6 to 10 weeks.

TCM sees this condition as chronic liver qi stagnation with liver attacking stomach and bowel, also chronic damp heat and phlegm fire in the liver and bowel. For patients who have rectal bleeding for a long time, the condition can change to a deficient nature which cause severe blood deficiency.

The treatment of GD using only TCM is not as effective as the approach with using both TCM and bionutritional medicine together.Using Using TCM treatment only for the treatment of this condition can be very lengthy due to its chronic and severe nature. Most GD patients suffer from energy obstruction as well as severe physiological dysfunction and pathological changes in the blood and tissue level. Differential diagnosis of this condition determines the herbal medicine that we prescribe to patients depending on the duration of the disease, inflammatory level, pain level, bleeding level etc. Two main formulas are Agastache formula and Saussurea formula, then we have to add single herbs to make up a more individualized formula for different patients. But the treatment principle is to eliminate liver qi stagnation , clear damp heat in the bowel, ensure proper blood flow, reduce obstruction and encourage tissue repair and growth.