Like many diseases, Crohns disease is named after the man who discovered this particular illness. It was a particularly devastating form of inflammatory bowel disease, and one that had not been seen before. In 1932, Burrill Bernard Crohn published a paper with two of his colleagues, Dr. Gordon Oppenheimer and Dr. Leon Ginzburg, outlining the symptoms of the sickness and what they had discovered through the research of more than 14 cases.

Crohns, as it became known, was essentially a condition affecting primarily the large intestine. Patients afflicted with this disease would experience inflammation in the colon, rectum, stomach, and sometimes even the mouth. This swelling would usually be rather deep and difficult to treat, even with antibiotics. The possibility of the surgical removal of the colon offers some hope of relief but there is a strong chance that the symptoms will reoccur since the inflammation is not restricted to the larger intestine.

How Crohn became famous was mostly due to his last name starting with a “C.” When the findings made by him and his colleagues were published, they were done so in a paper called, “Regional Iletis: A New Clinical Entity.” This was the first time that the description of this condition had been published in a popular medical journal, and because his name came first alphabetically, this was how the disease was eventually named.

Crohn’s discovery resulted in a great amount of fame that allowed him to eventually become chief of the gastroenterology department at Mount Sinai Hospital where he was able to treat patients from all around the world and conduct further research into the causes of the disease that bears his name. When he retired, he moved to Connecticut and cut off a lot of communication with the outside work, preferring Mount Sinai Hospital to deal with the continuing interest in his name and his disease.

Despite becoming a recluse at the end of his life, Crohn had been quite vocal during his working years about his discoveries and theories. One theory he was never able to prove involved a link with his disease and Johne’s disease, which affects cattle. Many years after his death, however, technology advanced to the point where more detailed tests were conducted that showed there was indeed a strong connection between a pathogen found in both diseases. Even after death, it is obvious that this man was an expert in his field.

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