TAMPA, Fla. — Up to a million Americans are living with Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease is an incurable disease that causes your immune system to attack your digestive tract.
“I was at Florida Atlantic University. It was my first year there,” said Quinton Desamours. He was in a new city, starting a new chapter as he began his college career. “I want to say around January or February of 2021, I ended up with food poisoning,” said Desamours.
In the months that followed, he experienced digestive symptoms that were indicative of something more serious. He eventually went to the hospital where he was diagnosed with ileocolitis, a form of Crohn’s disease. “Honestly, just looking it up, I felt nothing really but shock just reading that it was a lifetime autoimmune disease,” said Desamours.
Historically, people of Eastern European descent, like Ashkenazi Jews, have had the highest levels of Crohn's disease. “We’re also seeing it more commonly in the African American population, patients of Asian descent, we’re seeing it in patients who have Hispanic origins as well,” said Dr. Asad ur Rahman with Cleveland Clinic Florida.
Some of the symptoms include abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, bloody stools, and chronic fatigue. There still isn’t a cure for the disease, but Dr. Rahman said doctors have identified some of the molecular structures that cause the body’s immune system to attack the digestive tract. “By understanding those mechanisms, there has been work on medications that block those inflammatory pathways that have helped patients get their inflammation under control,” said Dr. Rahman.
As for Quinton, he’s on new medication and has learned to live and control the symptoms of his autoimmune disease. His doctors have worked with him on his diet, and he’s even back to doing the things that keep him strong and healthy.
“I’m starting to get back into the gym now, obviously for fun, but it’s something I love to do— Basketball, working out,” said Desamours.
