What is done for ulcerative colitis?

Management/surgery: Ulcerative colitis can be managed medically. It is a lot of work focusing on normalizing bowel movements (2 soft daily), avoiding irritants (they vary but gluten, bile acids, lactose, fat are prominent), immunmodulation (using immune suppression and vaccinations against viruses and tuberculosis). Surgery is your back up, when all else fails a surgeon can remove the bad body part, your colon.

Medications surgery: The mainstay of treatment is medical, however a small proportion of very sick patients end up needing a colectomy (removal of the colon). Medication regimen inlcudes a Mesalamine product (such as asacol), immunosuppresants (6mp, immuran), biologic agents (remicade, humira). Prednisone is used as little as possible and only to control acute flares.