Know your illness: Hirschsprung’s disease
In 1886, a Danish physician by the name of Harald Hirschsprung documented the death of two very young children who died with swollen bellies. Upon further research, it was discovered that they died because of bowel obstruction, a bowel obstruction so bad it caused an enlargement of the colon and led to their deaths. This condition was coined by the man who discovered it and is now known as Hirschsprung’s disease.
It’s not at all a contagious disease or something you can at all control. People who suffer from it have a genetic predisposition to have it, and that’s the only way the disease can be passed on to somebody. A child will develop the condition in the womb and it will begin to manifest as soon as they are born and start eating or, in their case, drinking their milk
Specifically, Hirschsprung’s disease is caused by the lack of enteric nervous cells at a section of the intestine, close to the anus. These enteric nervous cells are responsible for regulating how your intestine pushes out the feces. The enteric nervous system is actually referred to as the second brain, because of its high density of neurons and because it functions on its own, without requiring contribution by the brain.
As that part of the intestine doesn’t push out the feces, they back up and accumulate as they reach that section. This causes intense discomfort for the baby, who despite not being able to voice its discomfort will react by crying and showing signs of struggling. Other signs of the disease are the obvious swelling of the lower abdomen and vomiting bile.
As the feces build up at that part of the intestine, the risk of infection increases. So treatment needs to begin as quickly as possible as to minimize the risk of complications and, ultimately, death.
Treatment for Hirschsprung’s disease comes in two stages. The first stage consists of cutting off the damaged portion of the intestine and replacing it with a colostomy bag. Close watch is kept on the affected individual and on the bag to watch and prevent a possible infection. Also, doctors need to keep a close eye on the patient’s age, weight and physical condition in order to determine when to move on to stage two of the treatment. This consists of pulling the healthy part of the intestine and stretching it until it covers the normal length of the intestine.
