What is ulcerative colitis?
Ulcerative colitis is an ongoing (chronic) disease of the large intestine, also called the colon. The colon includes the rectum and anus.
In ulcerative colitis, the rectum is inflamed or diseased, and one section of the colon is inflamed. That section may be located in any part of the colon.
Ulcerative colitis is 1 of the 2 most common forms of inflammatory bowel disease. The other, Crohn's disease, can affect more than 1 part of the digestive tract.
Where is the colon and what does it do?
The colon is part of the digestive system, that works from top to bottom. The digestive system turns food into "fuel" to keep the body going.
When food is swallowed, it travels down through the throat and a tube called the esophagus, landing in the stomach. Acids in the stomach break down the food into smaller pieces that move into the small intestine. There, most of the useful parts of food, the nutrients, are digested and absorbed into the body.
What's left continues to the colon, where moisture and any remaining nutrients are absorbed for the body to use. The parts of food, including fiber, that the body can't use are formed into stools. The stools are stored at the end of the colon in the rectum before leaving the body as a bowel movement.
What happens to the colon in ulcerative colitis and how does it feel?
Ulcerative colitis makes the inner lining of the colon red and painful (inflamed). Tiny open sores develop. These sores, called ulcers, bleed and produce a yellowish substance, called pus, and a slippery liquid, called mucus.
Inflammation irritates the colon, causing it to empty itself more often than it really needs to. These frequent bowel movements cause bloody diarrhea and stomach cramps.
What are the different types of ulcerative colitis?
There are several different types of ulcerative colitis depending on the location of the inflammation. What happens, how much it hurts, and how to reduce the damage and pain of ulcerative colitis depend on how bad the inflammation is and exactly where it is located in the colon. That's why it's important for the doctor to determine which type of ulcerative colitis a patient has. This is determined by the part of the colon that is affected.
Ulcerative proctitis (pronounced "ul-sera-tiv prahk-tite-is"): Only the rectum is affected.
Ulcerative proctosigmoiditis (pronounced "prahk-toe-sig-moy-dite-is"): The rectum and sigmoid colon are affected.
Left-sided ulcerative colitis: Inflammation extends past the rectum and sigmoid colon to the descending colon below the splenic flexure.
Extensive ulcerative colitis: Inflammation extends to the transverse colon (the part of the colon going across the body) above the splenic flexure.
Pancolitis: The whole colon is affected.
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What are the symptoms of ulcerative colitis?
Common symptoms of ulcerative colitis include:- Diarrhea (from fewer than 4 stools per day to more than 6 stools per day)
- Bloody diarrhea
- Bleeding from the rectum
- Stomach cramps and pain
- Weight loss
- Feeling tired most of the time (fatigue)
- Night sweats
- Fever
- Anemia
What other diseases cause symptoms like these?
Ulcerative colitis is one of several diseases that cause symptoms like stomach cramps, diarrhea, or constipation. Other diseases with these symptoms include diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and spastic colitis. Sometimes when people first hear that they have ulcerative colitis, they may confuse it with these other diseases. Although the other diseases may have some of the same symptoms as ulcerative colitis, they are different from ulcerative colitis and from each other.
Diverticulitis (pronounced dahy-ver-tik-yuh-lahy-tis) is inflammation of a diverticulum. Diverticulum are small pockets in the wall of the colon that fill with stool and become inflamed. People with diverticulitis have painful stomach cramps, fever, and constipation.
Irritable bowel syndrome (pronounced ir-i-tuh-buh bow-uhl sin-drohm) is an ongoing (chronic) disorder. Like ulcerative colitis, people with irritable bowel syndrome have stomach pain, cramps, and sometimes, diarrhea. One difference is that in irritable bowel syndrome, the colon is not inflamed. Doctors don't really know what causes irritable bowel syndrome, but research shows a strong link between a person's digestive system and their central nervous system and brain. People with irritable bowel syndrome seem to be more sensitive to many factors like stress or diet that other people may not even notice.
Spastic colitis (pronounced spaz-tick coh lahy-tis) is a general term that people have used to describe inflammation of the colon and when they have pain, cramping, diarrhea and constipation. This term isn't used by doctors anymore, but some people use it incorrectly to describe irritable bowel syndrome.
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