Q. What is ulcerative colitis?
A. Ulcerative colitis is one of the forms of irritable bowel disease (IBD) other being Crohn’s disease.
Ulcerative colitis is inflammation of the mucosa of the colon leading to ulcer formation and open sores.
Ulcerative colitis involves only large intestine whereas the second form of irritable bowel disease i.e. Crohn’s disease which may involve any part of intestines.
Q. What are the types of ulcerative colitis?
A. Depending on the extent of the disease it is divided into following types:
- Extensive colitis; there is involvement of entire colon. There are very severe symptoms at this stage.
- Distal colitis; when involvement is limited up to rectum then it is termed as proctitis.
- Proctosigmoiditis; when involvement includes rectum as well as sigmoid colon then it is termed as proctosigmoiditis.
Q. How is ulcerative colitis different from crohn’s disease?
A. They differ from each other on following basis:
Location: Ulcerative colitis affects the large intestine, while crohn’s disease affects the whole GIT
Inflammation type: Ulcerative colitis inflammation is continuous, while in crohn’s disease healthy area of tissue is present in between the inflamed area.
Tissue affected: Ulcerative colitis only the mucosa of the colon while crohn’s disease affects whole layer of the GIT.
Q. What are the causes of ulcerative colitis?
A. Ulcerative colitis can occur due to number of causes as follows:-
- Genetic causes. If there is a family history of irritable bowel disease then the patient is at higher risk of a developing ulcerative colitis.
- Environmental factors
- Overactive immune response
Q. Which other conditions are similar to ulcerative colitis?
A. Following conditions are similar to ulcerative colitis;
- Intestinal infection: Caused by bacteria
- Crohn’s disease: Affects whole GIT
- Ischemic disease: Due to insufficient blood supply to the colon
- Celiac disease, microscopic colitis, bacterial overgrowth, lactose intolerance, etc.
Q. Are there any dietary restrictions for ulcerative colitis patients?
A. Some common dietary products which are associated with the formation of ulcerative colitis are as follows:-
- Vitamin B 6
- Meat protein
- Alcoholic beverages
- Sulphur restricted diets
- Accutane
- Unsaturated fatty acids
- Breast feeding; breast feeding can reduce the risk of developing ulcerative colitis.
- Psychological stress is a great factor involved in the development of ulcerative colitis.
- Milk intake can lead to increase in the formation of ulcerative colitis.
- The smoking cause is involved in Crohn’s disease the comparatively to ulcerative colitis play no role.
Q. What signs and symptom does ulcerative colitis show?
A. Ulcerative colitis symptoms depend on the severity of the disease and the area of colon and rectum involved by disease.
- Loose stools mixed with blood and mucus.
- Regular loss of blood leads to the anemic condition.
- Pain in the abdomen before and after passing stools.
- There are painful abdominal cramps.
- Fever may be an additional symptom.
- Weight loss.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Some other associated symptoms are knee pains.
- Ulcers on skin and mucosa of the mouth.
- Pain in joints with swelling.
Q. How can I get my ulcerative colitis diagnosed?
A. There is no single test done to diagnose ulcerative colitis. It is done by:
- Clinical history of symptoms
- Physical examination
- CBC
- Stool test
- Endoscopy
- Tissue biopsy
Q. What are possible complications of ulcerative colitis?
A. Following complications can be seen if no proper treatment is taken:
- Disease flare
- Colon cancer
- Osteoporosis
- Nutritional deficiency:
- Vitamin D deficiency
- Iron and magnesium deficiency
