- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- preteenagers today articles
- preteenagers today q&a
- teenagers today articles
- teenagers today q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Teens and Crohn's Disease
A Medical Reason for Unexplained Weight Loss
By Teri Brown
Eating disorders affect thousands of teenage girls across the United States. In response, parents and health care providers have become increasingly sensitive to weight loss in that age group. So much so, that an eating disorder is often suspected after extreme weight loss, even when the cause may be medical in nature.
Jessica Leach of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., was 12 years old when she first started having weight loss issues. Her doctor first suspected an eating disorder. "When the problems started, I was too embarrassed to tell my mom or anyone," she says. "No one wants to talk to anyone about stomach aches and diarrhea. I lost a lot of weight very quickly, dropping me down to about 100 pounds. The doctor started off by asking me if I was anorexic or bulimic. I was so frustrated with her because she did not seem to believe me."
After being referred to a gastroenterologist, Leach was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. They started her on prednisone, and then Remicade, which was administered as an infusion every eight weeks. That put her into remission for three years. About two and a half years ago, she had another flair up and developed a severe reaction to the Remicade. Another medication, Humira, put her into remission again, but Leach will never forget her frustration at having people assume she had an eating disorder when she actually had a serious disease.
Dr. Sonia Ramamoorthy, an assistant professor of Surgery, Colon and Rectal Surgery at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center, says that misdiagnosis in favor of eating disorders is becoming more and more common. "In recent years, there has been heightened awareness about recognizing eating disorders as many of the early cases went undiagnosed for some time," she says. "Perhaps the pendulum has swung too far to the other side whereby other important digestive disorders are being overlooked."