Crohns and getting the flu

by Sandy
(Calgary, Alberta Canada)

Before Crohns, if I got the flu, two days and I was back at work. Now if I get a virus...it's 4 days lucky if I'm back at work. I should mention that I work with infectious diseases in a a Hospital and I'm sure this doesn't help me out no matter how sterile I try to keep things.

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Crohns and getting the flu NEW
by: Annette Young

Hi Sandy,

Thank you for your post. Crohn's disease can certainly affect your life in so many different ways. But you are right, it also impacts the immune system severely and this will make you susceptible to lots of different germs or bacteria. This means that your body will not be up to fighting them off in the same way.

As you probably know your immune system is there to fight invading bugs and to ensure you have protection against any bacteria or germs in general. For some reason, those people with Crohn's disease, they have immune problems, because something seems to disrupts their immune system and it is the immune system itself that then sends out a protein which is called TNF-alpha which then goes on to attack bacteria.

Unfortunately the immune system and this protein seems unable to differentiate between the good bacteria and the harmful ones and so all of the bacteria are at risk and this is what causes a lot of the inflammation which is associated with Crohn's disease.

Some people like to take probiotics and recently I heard that some people felt better after including ginger in their diet. It is all trial and error though and what works for one may not work for another.

I do think you should have a look at your diet and just make sure that you are having enough nutrients because if you are deficient in any vitamins and minerals than this could also be working against you.

I'm a strong believer that you should work with your body and not against it, to take an intuitive approach to your health.

If anyone has any suggestions regarding the immune system, we would love to hear about it.

Hope that helps
Annette

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