CCFA Take Steps Lafayette

MEDIA ALERT Contact: TAKE STEPS FOR CROHN?S & COLITIS Raises Awareness and Funds for Chronic Digestive Diseases WHO: Take Steps for Crohn?s & Colitis is the nation?s largest annual event dedicated to finding cures for digestive diseases. Through this family-friendly program which includes a festival and walk, thousands of walkers across the country raise crucial research dollars to help the 1 in 200 Americans fighting Crohn?s disease and ulcerative colitis. Take Steps for Crohn?s & Colitis brings together the Crohn?s disease and ulcerative colitis community in a fun and energetic atmosphere where participants are encouraged to make noise and be heard?raising awareness of these little-known diseases in their community and across the nation. WHAT: Take Steps Shreveport WHEN: Sunday, November 10 ? Registration starts at 2:00pm WHERE: LSU Shreveport Campus WHY: Known collectively as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn?s disease and ulcerative colitis affects 1.4 million Americans. They are painful, medically incurable diseases that attack the digestive system. Crohn's disease may attack anywhere along the digestive tract, while ulcerative colitis inflames only the large intestine (colon). Symptoms may include abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, fever, weight loss and fatigue. Many patients require numerous hospitalizations and surgery. These are common disorders with bad consequences if not detected and treated early, yet long delays in diagnosis and effective treatment are common because people, including primary care physicians, are not familiar with the symptoms. The average delay in diagnosis is 1-3 years and the average patient is misdiagnosed twice. Most people develop the diseases between 15 and 35, however the diseases are becoming increasingly more common in children.