Travel Insurance For Crohns Disease Sufferers

Travel insurance for Crohns Disease sufferers can be arranged by World First who are international travel insurance specialists. World First offer cheap holiday insurance for Crohns Disease suffererers and annual travel insurance for UK residents with medical conditions who find it difficult to buy travel insurance with cover for Crohns Disease and associated medical problems elsewhere. For more information about travel insurance for Crohns Disease sufferers and a quote for your holiday insurance call World First for FREE on 0800 096 46 02.

Crohns disease is a condition that causes inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract (gut). The gut consists of the oesophagus (gullet), stomach, and small and large intestine.
Crohns disease can affect any part of the gut. However, it most commonly occurs at the lower end of the small intestine, known as the ileum. Typical symptoms include, pain, ulcers and diarrhoea. Daily medication can be taken to relieve the symptoms of, but sometimes, surgery to remove part of the gut, may be required.

Approximately 1 in 1,500 people have Crohns disease, and the condition affects slightly more women than men. It can develop at any age, but usually starts between the ages of 15 and 40.

The outlook for people with Crohns disease varies depending on which part of the gut is affected, and the severity and frequency of the symptoms.

The majority of people experience moderate symptoms from to time to time and most (80%) will require surgery at some point. Rare complications, such as a perforated gut, can be life-threatening.

The symptoms of Crohn's disease occur when the wall of the affected part of the gut becomes inflamed. The inflammation often causes one or more of the following symptoms:
pain different people experience different severities of pain. The site of the pain will depend on which part of the gut is affected. The condition commonly occurs at the lower end of the small intestine (ileum), and so the pain will often be on the lower right side of the abdomen,ulcers a raw area of the gut wall that may bleed. If it does, you may notice blood in your stools (faeces). Mouth ulcers are also common, diarrhoea can vary from mild to severe, and may contain mucus, pus or blood. You may feel a frequent need to go to the toilet, but a lack of anything to pass (tenesmus) is common, feeling generally unwell fever and extreme tiredness, loss of appetite and weight, anaemia can occur if you lose a lot of blood, anal fissures and rectal bleeding the skin of the anus may become cracked (anal fissures), bleed and be painful. The symptoms vary depending on the part/s of your, that is gut affected. For example, if you have pain in your abdomen, with no other symptoms, it may be due to a small patch of Crohns disease in your small intestine. However, if the condition causes severe diarrhoea and other symptoms, the large intestine will be affected.

Additional symptoms

Some people with Crohns disease experience additional symptoms. These can include:
inflammation of the joints (arthritis), inflammation of the eye (uveitis), inflammation of the liver, and skin rashes. The reason why these other symptoms occur is not fully understood. However, it is thought that they may be triggered by the immune system as a reaction to the inflammation of the gut.

Source:
NHS Direct Online. © Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and Queen’s Printer for Scotland.