{"id":4634,"date":"2026-05-06T10:30:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T10:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eakinostomy.com\/US\/blog\/what-is-hirschsprungs-disease-and-how-has-it-impacted-me-by-rachel\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T10:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T10:41:07","slug":"what-is-hirschsprungs-disease-and-how-has-it-impacted-me-by-rachel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eakinostomy.com\/US\/blog\/what-is-hirschsprungs-disease-and-how-has-it-impacted-me-by-rachel\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Hirschsprung’s Disease and how has it impacted me? | by Rachel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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What is Hirschsprung’s Disease and how has it impacted me? | by Rachel<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
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Most people have heard of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as a reason for needing stoma surgery. But far fewer have heard of Hirschsprung\u2019s Disease (HD): a rare condition that can have a life-changing impact from birth.

For me, it\u2019s not just something I\u2019ve learned about, it\u2019s something I\u2019ve lived through. In this blog, I share my experience of Hirschsprung\u2019s Disease and how it has shaped my life.<\/h4>\n\n\n
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What is it?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Presenting in around 1 in 5,000 babies each year in the UK, HD is a rare congenital condition that can occur with no family history of the disease. For babies born with Down Syndrome, it is significantly more likely that they will have HD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Your intestines should rhythmically move stool along in a wave-like contraction. Nerve cells called ganglion cells should line the intestines to create this motion. Where these cells are not present is called aganglionic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The types of HD are known as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n