11 Celebrities With Crohn's Disease

Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that can be incredibly challenging. In Crohn's disease, a rogue immune system attacks the digestive tract, causing inflammation and tissue damage.

Crohn's disease symptoms include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, fever and fatigue. Like many autoimmune diseases, symptoms tend to cycle, getting worse during flare-ups and then subsiding.

Here are 11 people who achieved celebrity for their deeds -- not their Crohn's disease diagnosis -- and how they dealt with the condition.

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Cynthia McFadden

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ABC News correspondent McFadden first experienced the excruciating pain of Crohn's disease, which her friends euphemistically dubbed "George," in her sophomore year of college. "They weren't going to say, 'Did you have 15 diarrhea attacks today?'" the journalist says in a 1994 People magazine interview. "So, instead, they'd ask me, 'How's George?'" After a bout of internal bleeding in 1979, she had 15 feet of intestine removed. McFadden, who now works to raise awareness about the disease with the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), has been mostly in remission ever since. More from Health.com: 15 Healthy-Eating Tips for People With Crohn's Disease 10 Risk Factors for Inflammatory Bowel Disease 8 Websites for People With Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis

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ABC News correspondent McFadden first experienced the excruciating pain of Crohn's disease, which her friends euphemistically dubbed "George," in her sophomore year of college.

"They weren't going to say, 'Did you have 15 diarrhea attacks today?'" the journalist says in a 1994 People magazine interview. "So, instead, they'd ask me, 'How's George?'"

After a bout of internal bleeding in 1979, she had 15 feet of intestine removed. McFadden, who now works to raise awareness about the disease with the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), has been mostly in remission ever since.

More from Health.com:
15 Healthy-Eating Tips for People With Crohn's Disease
10 Risk Factors for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
8 Websites for People With Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis

comments(13)

Total comments: 13 | Post a Comment

1 of 12

This Celeb

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Not so much. Inspiring!

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Comments

[HeatherNicolePrice]

11:36 AM on 08/09/2011

inspiring

[borisbadenovisback]

07:53 PM on 08/05/2011

Ah......who cropped some of these photos?

[TheInsomniac]

03:36 PM on 08/05/2011

Parasites, people. Time to start eating worms.

[Ari Winkleman]

07:41 AM on 08/05/2011

This just seems lazy

[WAY2MCCOOL]

02:22 AM on 08/05/2011

more than half of these people are not celebrities.

[TheInsomniac]

03:36 PM on 08/05/2011

I'm so thrilled to finally meet the arbiter of celebrity!

[Caroleeena]

11:03 PM on 08/09/2011

I'm so thrilled to finally meet the arbiter of narcissism.
But now that that is over, I'm moving on.

(And you wonder why you have no interesting friends on facebook? Who wants to be friends with someone who is rude to everyone they meet? At least, judging by your online personality.)

[Max Shaw]

04:18 PM on 08/03/2011

Dear Shannon,

Still not a deal-breaker... Call me!

PS - I keep a full stock of TP at all times,

Love Always,
Max

[seekay]

04:08 PM on 08/03/2011

I have had IBS for years , then I discovered Garden of Life.. Digestive enzymes. I can't believe the difference it has made in my life. It has cleared up at least 90%...Thank You Garden of Life for this product.

[bouyant]

06:44 PM on 08/03/2011

IBS is NOT IBD.

[Hlynn]

03:31 AM on 08/02/2011

I really admire people who live with chronic illnesses, still accomplish so much in life, and then are brave to share their condition in order to help others. It's surprising to find out how many people are able to do that, both famous and people in our personal lives. With the internet, there is almost always information available to help people who might otherwise suffer and try to cope alone.

[sophie M]

06:42 PM on 08/01/2011

my sister is an RN.......she has it.
she refuses to give in to conventional meds..
she does holistic , not perfect..
i would not know she had it.