Camera in pill diagnoses teen’s Crohn’s disease
July 24, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
While getting a diagnosis of a disease like Crohn’s disease isn’t what most people want, when you’ve been sick or affected by chronic pain, severe pain, getting such a diagnosis is often a relief.
An 18-year-old in the United Kingdom had been experiencing severe abdominal pain for five years before she was finally diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Now that she has a diagnosis, doctors can work on trying to get the disease under control.
The disposable “camera pill” is swallowed and then tracked as it goes through the patient’s digestive system. The radio transmitter provides the images of areas in the body that would otherwise not be seen. You can read more about this story in this article: Teenager who swallowed revolutionary pill camera finally diagnosed after five years of crippling pain. Sometimes, you just have to love new technology.
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Wow, that is incredible! I’ve never heard of a camera pill before but if it can help doctors diagnose illnesses or disease, I’m all for it!
(Mind you, that looks like an awfully large ‘pill’. I’d sure need plenty of water to get that thing down the hatch, LOL!)
Thank you so much for sharing this! My husband has Crohn’s, but it was undiagnosed for many years. He had terrible stomach pains/cramps from elementary school through post-college. At one point a Dr. decided to do surgery. The Dr. opened him up saw it was Crohn’s and closed him up.
A pill would make diagnosis sooner and easier for patients like him.
I am stunned a disposable camera pill – technology has come so far.
I am all for it if it though as it helps people get diagnosed quicker and correctly – brilliant