Risk factors for Crohn's disease may include:

▪️Consuming fatty foods and large meals, will make you feel worst.
▪️Stressing will make your signs and symptoms worse and may trigger flare-ups.
▪️Cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking is the most important controllable risk factor for developing Crohn's disease. Smoking also leads to more severe disease and a greater risk of surgery.
▪️Crohn's is the first genetically complex disease in which the relationship between genetic risk factors and the immune system is understood in considerable detail. Each individual risk mutation makes a small contribution to the overall risk of Crohn's (approximately 1:200). The genetic data, and direct assessment of immunity, indicates a malfunction in the innate immune system.
▪️Crohn's is associated with an increased risk of small bowel and colorectal carcinoma, including bowel cancer.
▪️It can lead to several mechanical complications within the intestines, including obstruction, fistulae, and abscesses. Obstruction typically occurs from strictures or adhesions that narrow the lumen, blocking the passage of the intestinal contents.
▪️Also increases the risk of cancer in the area of inflammation. For example, individuals with Crohn's disease involving the small bowel are at higher risk for small intestinal cancer. Similarly, people with Crohn's colitis have a relative risk of 5.6 for developing colon cancer.

RISK FACTORS

WHO IS AT RISK

🔺Gender: males and females are equally affected.
🔺Age: Crohn's disease can occur at any age, but you're likely to develop the condition when you're young. Most people who develop Crohn's disease are diagnosed before they're 30 years old.
🔺Ethnicity: Although whites have the highest risk of the disease, it can affect any ethnic group. If you're of Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jewish descent, your risk is even higher.
🔺Family history: You're at higher risk if you have a close relative, such as a parent, sibling or child, with the disease. As many as 1 in 5 people with Crohn's disease has a family member with the disease.
🔺Where you live: If you live in an urban area or in an industrialized country, you're more likely to develop Crohn's disease. Because Crohn's disease occurs more often among people living in cities and industrial nations, it may be that environmental factors, including a diet high in fat or refined foods, play a role in Crohn's disease. People living in northern climates also seem to have a greater risk of the disease.