What is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)?
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an ongoing or chronic health problem that causes inflammation and swelling in the digestive tract. The irritation causes bleeding sores called ulcers to form along the digestive tract. This in turn can cause crampy, abdominal pain and severe bloody diarrhea. There are two main types of inflammatory bowel disease: ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). The diseases are very similar. In fact, doctors often have a hard time figuring out which type of IBD a person has. The main difference between UC and CD is the area of the digestive tract they affect. CD can occur along the entire digestive tract and spread deep into the bowel wall. In contrast, UC usually only affects the top layer of the large intestine (colon) and rectum. Medicine can control the symptoms of IBD in most women. But for people who have severe IBD, surgery is sometimes needed. Over the course of a person’s life, the symptoms of IBD often come and go.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an ongoing or chronic health problem that causes inflammation and swelling in the digestive tract. The irritation causes bleeding sores called ulcers to form along the digestive tract. This in turn can cause crampy, abdominal pain and severe bloody diarrhea. There are two main types of inflammatory bowel disease: ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). The diseases are very similar. In fact, doctors often have a hard time figuring out which type of IBD a person has. The main difference between UC and CD is the area of the digestive tract they affect. CD can occur along the entire digestive tract and spread deep into the bowel wall. In contrast, UC usually only affects the top layer of the large intestine (colon) and rectum. Medicine can control the symptoms of IBD in most women. But for people who have severe IBD, surgery is sometimes needed. Over the course of a person’s life, the symptoms of IBD often come and go. With close monitoring an
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) refers to the condition that results when cells involved in inflammation and immune response are called into the lining of the GI tract. This infiltration thickens the bowel lining and interferes with absorption and motility (the ability of the bowel to contract and move food). With abnormal ability to contract and abnormal ability to absorb, the bowel’s function is disrupted. Chronic vomiting results if the infiltration is in the stomach or higher areas of the small intestine. A watery diarrhea with weight loss results if the infiltration is in the lower small intestine. A mucous diarrhea with fresh blood (colitis) results if the infiltration occurs in the large intestine. Of course, the entire tract from top to bottom may be involved. Many people confuse inflammatory bowel disease with irritable bowel syndrome, a stress-related diarrhea problem. Treatment for IBS is aimed at stress; it is a completely different condition from IBD.
