What is Ulcerative Colitis?
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic disease that affects the colon or large intestine. With ulcerative colitis, the innermost lining of the intestine becomes inflamed and tiny open sores form. These sores bleed and produce pus and mucus. The inflammation causes the intestine to empty frequently, which results in bouts of bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever.
Ulcerative Colitis (Colitis/ Proctitis) is a painful inflammatory bowel disease that causes ulcers in the lining of the large intestine. Because of the inflammation of the rectum the colon empties frequently. That results in frequent diarrhea. The inflammation gradually kills the healthy cells in the lining of the colon, producing bleeding ulcers in the intestinal wall that create pus. The disease mainly occurs between the ages 15 and 40, less frequently between the ages 50 and 70. Approximately 1 million Americans get the disease per year.
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory disease of the large intestine, commonly called the colon. UC causes inflammation and ulceration of the inner lining of the colon and rectum. This inner lining is called the mucosa. Crohn’s disease (CD) causes inflammation that extends into the deeper layers of the intestinal wall. The inflammation of UC is usually most severe in the rectal area with severity diminishing (at a rate that varies from patient to patient) toward the cecum, where the large and small intestine join. Significant deviations from this pattern may be a clue to the physician to suspect CD rather than UC. Such deviations may include either “skip areas” and/or “sparing of the rectum”. Skip areas are patches of healthy tissue separating segments of diseased tissue. They are often seen in CD, but rarely in UC. Inflammation of the rectum is called proctitis. Inflammation of the sigmoid colon (located just above the rectum) is called sigmoiditis. Inflammation involving the ent
