My Crohn's Diaries

Title: Crohn’s and Colitis for Dummies, Second Edition

Author: Tauseef Ali

Publication Date: September 19, 2022

Great for: Newly-diagnosed, friends/family, reference

Here’s something you don’t know about me yet: I love to read! And to review books! And, now, apparently, I love to learn more about my diagnosis! So, combine all of those and out comes the idea for a new little book review series.

I’ll be reading and reviewing books about Crohn’s disease and IBD in general. While the nonfiction books are easy to find on the topic, I’d also like to seek out some fiction featuring characters with Crohn’s and IBD as well. If you have any recommendations, comment below please! Now, without further ado, the first review.

Crohn’s and Colitis for Dummies by Tauseef Ali is, as many of the for Dummies books, a comprehensive point of reference for beginners. It’s rather long at over 300 pages and broken into different sections including the mechanics of the disease, finding a healthcare team, medication options, alternative therapies, diets, etc.

While some of the information can be more technical, like when the author describes the functioning of the digestive system or the way medications work to counteract the disease, the author does a great job “dumbing” it down so even the layman can understand it. The author also includes quite niche topics, too, including medication-specific breastfeeding information or considerations when traveling at high altitudes or even how to evaluate a website’s information for accuracy. There were multiple sections that included things that hadn’t occurred to me before, but that I’m glad I know now so I have that information going forward. I also liked that the author showed a clear understanding of the way the disease can impact other aspects of life like sex and dating and depression in a sympathetic, but informative way.

I particularly liked how the book breaks down different aspects of your health that are impacted by Crohn’s and colitis. The author included the statistic that 25% of patients have other organs involved in the disease aside from their intestines. Knowing what potential other issues can come from the disease makes it easier to spot it fast if they pop up in the future.

Personally, since my diagnosis wasn’t clear cut from the beginning, I thought the discussion that many patients end up having their diagnosis changed in the course of their treatment was reassuring. Crohn’s can be an embarrassing and shame-filled disease (though it shouldn’t be!) so seeing my experiences laid out as a normal part of the disease made me feel seen and understood.

There’s also a chapter for loved ones, if they so choose, to learn more about the disease and how to help navigate it alongside you.

This is quite a lengthy book to dig into and, as the author says at the beginning, doesn’t need to be read straight through to be useful. You can read one chapter that’s relevant to your current situation and come back to the book later as your life, treatment, etc. change. For example, you might not need the chapter on pregnancy, for example, until years down the line (or you may never need it) or you can disregard the alternative therapies section until you have the energy to dig into that more. If you read the digital version, links throughout can route you through relevant sections or if you have the physical copy you can just flip around or use the index to find the info you’re looking for.

I think the author encapsulates the utility of the book at the beginning well, saying, “In this book, I don’t tell you everything there is to know about Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Instead I give you the information you need so you can make the right decisions about your treatment.”

So, if you’re new to the disease or want a handy reference guide as you navigate treatment, I’d recommend picking up this one. I’d recommend going for the second edition since the first edition is over a decade old now and there have been many, many developments since then in regards to treatment and understanding of the disease.