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Posted 9/1/2011 11:22 AM (GMT -5)
UC seems to not be as well known or accepted as an illness as Crohn’s is.
I've been seeing TV ads about Crohn’s during the evening news and the general public seem to know more about Crohn’s than UC when the instance of both diseases in America is about the same numbers.
Why is this?
Below is the knowcrohns.com website. Is there more money to be made off of Crohn's drugs than UC?
There must be an angle here somewhere.
http://www.knowcrohns.com
Posted 9/1/2011 11:36 AM (GMT -5)
Good question. I've wondered this, as well.

When people ask about my condition (ie. when I turn down beer, or bread, or something like that by saying I have a "stomach thing") I actually sometimes just tell people I have Crohn's (and well, I was dx'd with it for 3 years) because people have 1) more often than not heard of Crohn's and many people know someone with it, and 2) it just sounds less icky than ulcerative colitis. If they ask further, I usually clarify what I actually have. I guess this makes me a bad UC'r, but I just find it makes things easier for everyone.
Posted 9/1/2011 2:27 PM (GMT -5)
I don't think there's really an angle, as the drugs used to treat are pretty similar.

I think that it's just one of those things. For example, breast cancer is talked about more than leukemia (at least from what I've seen), and I know more about it, even though both are common, and are at their base, cancer. One just is more discussed.

Also, looking at lists of famous people with IBD's shows that most famous people with one suffer from Crohn's, so it's more apt to be discussed. Finally, I know a lot of people who are like myself and just tell people that Colitis is the sister to Crohn's because it's far easier than having to explain. So, maybe we all just need to suck up the awkward, and tell the truth. It may be similar, but it is different, and we should acknowledge that.
Posted 9/1/2011 2:50 PM (GMT -5)
I was originally diagnosed with UC then Crohn's later.

When I'm asked, I say I have UC b/c I don't want people ask me a bunch of questions.

If I say that I have CD, people almost always have someone they know who has it and gets very noisy. "OMG, are you okay? Did you have a lot of surgeries?"

I think having UC is just as severe but surgery causing complications from having the disease is more prevalent among CDers. Like strictures, fistulas, etc.
Posted 9/1/2011 10:31 PM (GMT -5)
I've seen UC commercials and general IBD commercials...not just Crohn's commercials....I've told many people that I have crohn's and many of them ask if it's similar to UC so there's definitely UC recognition out there (in my world at least).
Posted 9/2/2011 6:58 AM (GMT -5)
CD, in my opinion, is a much more serious disease. So in some ways, I think it does deserve a little bit more "attention" and research than UC. If my UC gets bad enough, I can have a colectomy and be done with it. Sure, there is no guarantee that I'll be perfectly ok after surgery, but the odds are very high that I will be. CDers can't have surgery and just "be done with it."
Posted 9/2/2011 7:19 AM (GMT -5)
I think Crohns is more popular than UC because there is no cure. The disease is through out the entire digestive tract. That's why UC is not that popular in people's minds. But, I don't lie about my disease. I mention that I have UC, and that it's a digestive disease. That's all I explain about it and people understand.
Posted 9/2/2011 7:34 AM (GMT -5)
Saying you are "just done with" UC via surgery is both disingenuous and insulting.
It's like saying you are just done with arthritis in your knee by having the knee removed.
As many posts here have talked about, after surgery patients can have a multitude of problems and just dealing with the loss of a major body part is no cure!
Surgery is sometimes warranted to save one's life, but it is neither a cure or an elective solution.
Also, CD is not 'throughout the digestive system', CD is confined to the small intestine, while UC is confined to the large intestine.
The first step in informing others about these diseases is informing yourself.
Posted 9/2/2011 7:44 AM (GMT -5)
Sorry, but you are completely wrong that CD is confined to the small intestine. Here are just a couple of links.

http://www.ccfa.org/info/about/crohns

http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/tc/crohns-disease-topic-overview


And I really do feel that a colectomy results in one being "done" with UC. It's not insulting nor disingenuous to me. And yes, it is an elective solution, IMO. If I get to the point where the meds aren't working, my quality of life is suffering (but not in danger), then I know I'd find surgeons willing to perform a colectomy.

Posted 9/2/2011 8:17 AM (GMT -5)
BeatUC:

I know to people with Crohn's. 1 is my age the other is old enough to be my grandma. But, I've learned from them that it's through out the entire digestive tract. It's not cureable. Read what Fruitgirl posted. It should help you.
Posted 9/2/2011 8:23 AM (GMT -5)
Yep, sorry I am wrong "Crohn's disease is a chronic (ongoing) disorder that causes inflammation of the digestive or gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Although it can involve any area of the GI tract from the mouth to the anus, it most commonly affects the small intestine and/or colon."
I may have misinterpreted what my doctor had told me. UC is strictly the large intestine, right?
But I still stand by my opinion that removal of the colon should not be thought of as a 'cure'.
I know these diseases are devastating and life changing and it just irks me when asked "why don't you just have your colon removed?"
Thanks for the info.
Posted 9/2/2011 8:50 AM (GMT -5)
Yes, UC is limited to the large intestine.

And really, it is a matter of opinion whether colectomy is a cure. It is to me, it isn't to you. Of course, the medical community generally accepts it as a cure.

But try thinking of it this way....since you have UC, colectomy IS an option that will very, very likely rid you of the symptoms of UC. Sure, you may have issues post-surgery, but the majority of people do not. We have members on this board who have had colectomys, have both j-pouches and permanent ileos, and are not limited in anything they do. Sadly, a person with CD does not have this same option.
Posted 9/2/2011 12:37 PM (GMT -5)
Yes, having CD does suck, but to be honest with you there are times when CDers have to have some removal of badly diseased parts...the thing about that is, usually within 5 yrs disease returns at the surgical site (CD has been known as the "cutting away disease") only thing is you get to the point where there's only so much in ones lifetime that can be cut away before they have nothing left....also, if enough small bowel is cut away for example, then there's likely a good chance if it's also already affecting the colon, then CD will more than likely move into less commonly affected areas like the esophagus. Having CD for many means an entire lifetime of disease issues like that.

I have never down played the fact that with UC you can at least have your colon removed and have your life back because personally if it were me and I had UC I don't know if I could ever make a decision as tough as that like many here have. Granted I do realize that it's also about saving your life and that is more often the need for the surgery but there is nothing easy with IBD regardless if it's UC or CD and I appreciate what both have to go through (maybe also because my CD happens to mainly affect my colon I can relate more to all you UCers out there).


Bottom line IBD sucks for all of us.
Posted 9/2/2011 1:30 PM (GMT -5)
Yes. I agree. CD is a much more serious disease. If I were flaring badly and had CD, then I don't think I would have any choice but to take steroids, biologicals, and immunlogicals. I'm so glad I don't. Steroids eat up the connective tissue and I'm prone to infections; so biologicals and immunlogicals are very risky for me. I'm so glad I don't have CD.
Posted 9/2/2011 2:13 PM (GMT -5)
One is not more serious than the other -they BOTH suck!
Thats not the point, this thread is supposed to be about how the public perceives UC/Crohn's differently and why.
Posted 9/2/2011 6:31 PM (GMT -5)
Well, not entirely true, one (CD) is a little more serious since it can be harder to treat with all the different area of the GI tract it can affect (all at one time as well).

You could join your local CCFC or CCFA and ask them how YOU can help get the word out there about IBD as well as the publics perception of the 2 forms of IBD.
Posted 9/2/2011 7:23 PM (GMT -5)
I agree with pb4. CD also has a lot of complications that UC doesn't. For instance, CDers can develop strictures and fistulas, whereas UCers generally don't. I say generally because some UCers get fistulas, but it's quite rare. The fistula that I have right now is not thought to be related at all to my IBD. I've never heard of a UCer getting a stricture.

The "known" symptoms of CD and UC, diarrhea, bleeding, cramping, etc, probably do suck equally.
Posted 9/3/2011 5:17 PM (GMT -5)
CCFC or CCFA are both a joke, shills for the drug companies.
And yea, they both suck equally!
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