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Ulcerative Colitis an Inflammatory Disease

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disease of the colon (large intestine) and rectum. It is characterized by inflammation and ulceration of the lining of the colon. Typical symptoms include diarrhea (sometimes bloody) and often abdominal pain.

Signs and symptoms of ulcerative colitis:
* Frequent passage of stools
* Blood and mucus in the stool
* Lower abdominal pain
* Weight loss

Area affected by ulcerative colitis:
Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation of the colon and / or rectum, leading to ulceration of the bowel lining. It varies in severity from month to month, and is usually treated by drugs.

Complications include anemia due to malabsorption and intestinal toxins that enter the bloodstream. The severe or extensive ulcerative colitis can be treated by surgery, particularly if the Risk of colorectal cancer is high.
Ulcerative colitis is also known as chronic idiopathic ulcerative colitis or chronic ulcerative colitis Indeterminate. It is a chronic, but can be maintained in remission for long periods. This means that the disease may present with periods of activity and inactivity. Periods of activity are known as outbreaks.

This disease belongs to inflammatory bowel diseases which also includes the Crohn’s and Colitis indeterminate.

Some sources cite it as an autoimmune disease, meaning it is caused by antibodies produced by our own body, reacting against damaging. Its specific cause is not well described, can be triggered by environmental factors such as some cases that develop after an intestinal infection.

The inflammation usually begins in the rectum and the lower intestine (sigmoid) and propagates upward through the entire colon. In rare cases, ulcerative colitis affects the small intestine, except the lower portion, the ileum.

There are various theories about the causes of ulcerative colitis, none of them proven. One theory suggests that some agent, possibly a virus or an atypical bacterium, interacts with the body’s immune system triggers an inflammatory reaction in the intestinal wall.

Although scientific evidence shows that people with ulcerative colitis have abnormalities of the immune system, it is unknown whether these abnormalities are a cause or an effect of the disease.

Their typical age of onset is before the first 40 years, however, has come to establish the diagnosis in older people.

The most typical manifestation is the presence of diarrhea with mucus abundant output and often there is blood in the stool. The color of blood is crucial, the darker the condition may be more concerned with a colon tract. Also often manifested in the patient colicky abdominal pain, usually lower abdominal and flank.

An approach to diagnosis after symptoms is verified by proof of lactose, a large percentage of patients have a flat curve, i.e. not digest the sugar found in dairy products typically. Besides the confirmation provided by performing an endoscopy lower gastrointestinal (rectos copy or colonoscopy). In the case the mucosa is noted with evident mucosal inflammatory signs such as redness, ulceration, presence of mucus and fibrin material.
It can be associated with other autoimmune diseases like primary sclerosing cholangitis, which affects the liver and bile ducts. The condition always starts in the rectum and extends from that point to other segments of the colon, being more severe disease; the greater percentage of the colon is involved.