Your digestive tract is the path that food takes through your body after you eat it. Food goes from your mouth (eating) to your anus (passing stool). Your intestine is the long tube in your digestive system that connects your stomach to your anus. It digests food and absorbs nutrients.
You have a small intestine and a large intestine. The small intestine, or small bowel, is very long with many coils. The large intestine, also called the colon or large bowel, is shorter and wider.
What is ulcerative colitis?
Ulcerative colitis is a long-term disease that causes your large intestine (colon) to become inflamed. It doesn't affect your small intestine. Ulcerative colitis is one of two inflammatory bowel diseases. The other inflammatory bowel disease is Crohn disease Crohn Disease Your digestive tract is the path that food takes through your body after you eat it. Food goes from your mouth (eating) to your anus (passing stool). Your intestine is the long tube in your... read more .
Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease
Symptoms come and go and include belly cramps, a frequent urge to pass stool, and bloody diarrhea
Doctors will look at your stool and use a viewing tube to look at your intestine
Doctors use treatments to control inflammation in your intestine, ease symptoms, and replace lost fluids and nutrients
Having ulcerative colitis for a long time increases your risk of getting colon cancer Colon Cancer Your colon is your large intestine. Your rectum is a pouch at the end of your colon where stool is stored until you pass it. Cancer is the out-of-control growth of cells in your body. Cells... read more
Ulcerative colitis may start at any age but usually begins before age 30.
What causes ulcerative colitis?
Doctors don't know what causes ulcerative colitis. It may be due to a problem with your immune system Overview of the Immune System The immune system is your body's defense system. It helps protect you from illness and infection. The immune system's job is to attack things that don’t belong in your body, including: Germs... read more that causes your intestine to overreact and become inflamed. Ulcerative colitis may run in families and is more common in Jewish people whose families come from Eastern Europe.
What are the symptoms of ulcerative colitis?
Symptoms of ulcerative colitis come and go. A flare-up can be severe for a few days or weeks and then go away or at least get better for a while. For most people, symptoms continue to flare up on and off throughout their life.
Usually, a flare-up begins slowly. Symptoms include:
A strong urge to pass stool
Mild cramps in your lower belly
Blood and mucus in your stool
A flare-up may be sudden and severe, causing:
Violent diarrhea often with a lot of mucus and blood
Heavy bleeding from your anus
High fever
Belly pain
Sometimes in a severe flare up, your large intestine swells up a lot and may develop a small hole (perforation). A perforation lets stool leak into your belly, which can cause a life-threatening infection (peritonitis).
If you've had ulcerative colitis for a long time, you can have:
Skin rash
Mouth sores
Joint pain
Red, sore eyes
Problems with your liver and gallbladder
Low blood count (anemia)
Weight loss
Increased risk of colon cancer
How can doctors tell if I have ulcerative colitis?
Doctors will thread a thin, lighted tube with a small camera through your anus to look at your intestines (colonoscopy Endoscopy Endoscope is an instrument doctors use to look inside your body. Endoscopes can also be used to do tests and treat diseases. Endoscopes are tubes that have a light and a small video camera on... read more ) to:
Look at how much inflammation there is
Take samples of mucus or stool
Remove tissue samples from inflamed areas and look at them under a microscope (biopsy)
Doctors may also do:
Blood tests
CT (computed tomography) scan Computed Tomography A CT scan uses a large machine shaped like a large donut to take x-rays from many angles. A computer then takes the x-rays and creates many detailed pictures of the inside of your body. Each... read more
or MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) MRI is a test that uses a machine with a powerful magnet to make pictures of the inside of your body. A computer records changes in the magnetic field around your body. The computer then uses... read more 
(magnetic resonance imaging) to help see what parts of the large intestine are affected
Sometimes it's hard for doctors to tell the difference between ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease Crohn Disease Your digestive tract is the path that food takes through your body after you eat it. Food goes from your mouth (eating) to your anus (passing stool). Your intestine is the long tube in your... read more of the colon because many of the symptoms are the same.
How do doctors treat ulcerative colitis?
There’s no cure for ulcerative colitis. Many treatments can help with symptoms.
Medicines may:
Help stop diarrhea and belly pain
Lessen inflammation in your intestine
Change the way your immune system works
Other treatments include:
Drinking enough fluids
Taking iron, calcium, and vitamin D supplements
Avoiding nuts and raw fruits and vegetables when you have a flare-up
Trying a dairy-free diet to see if it eases symptoms
Not taking certain medicines that can cause a flare-up such as painkillers called NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
Avoiding stress
If medicines don't work—or much later in order to lessen your risk of colon cancer—surgery may be done to remove your large intestine. Sometimes after surgery you have a ileostomy. An ileostomy is an opening in your lower belly connected to the end of your small intestine. Your stool comes out of the ileostomy into a plastic bag. Sometimes the doctor can do a special procedure that removes your colon but doesn't require an ileostomy.
If you haven't had surgery, doctors will do colonoscopy frequently to look for early signs of cancer.
Drugs Mentioned In This Article
| Generic Name | Select Brand Names |
|---|---|
vitamin d |
Calcidol, Calciferol, D3 Vitamin, DECARA, Deltalin, Dialyvite Vitamin D, Dialyvite Vitamin D3, Drisdol, D-Vita, Enfamil D-Vi-Sol, Ergo D, Fiber with Vitamin D3 Gummies Gluten-Free, Happy Sunshine Vitamin D3, MAXIMUM D3, PureMark Naturals Vitamin D, Replesta, Replesta Children's, Super Happy SUNSHINE Vitamin D3, Thera-D 2000, Thera-D 4000, Thera-D Rapid Repletion, THERA-D SPORT, UpSpring Baby Vitamin D, UpSpring Baby Vitamin D3, YumVs, YumVs Kids ZERO, YumVs ZERO |
