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A 33-year-old member asked:

What are/is ulcerative colitis?

2 doctor answers4 doctors weighed in
Dr. Robert Uyeda
General Surgery 47 years experience
Inflammatory : Condition of unknown cause that causes cramps, diarrhea sometimes bloody, and GI absorption problems. Treatment requires anti-inflammatory drugs and sometimes even surgery. Complicated issue that is impossible to discuss in limited space here.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
Dr. Jason Boardman
General Surgery 27 years experience
Ulcerative Colitis: UC is a autoimmune type disease in which there is an inflammatory response against the patients own cells of the colon. Common symptoms include pain, bloody diarrhea, weight loss and can lead to colon cancer. The disease requires treatment with medication and can also end up needing to be treated with surgery.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.

Similar questions

A 46-year-old member asked:

How do "colitis" and "ulcerative colitis" differ?

1 doctor answer1 doctor weighed in
Dr. Mark Hoepfner
Surgery 41 years experience
Colitis: There are many forms and types of colitis, some will resolve on their own. Infectious (bacterial), pseudomembranous, ischemic, crohn's, etc. Ulcerative colitis is a specific form of chronic colitis of uncertain cause, diagnosed often by biopsy at colonoscopy. It can be a long term condition needing specific medications to treat & serial colonoscopy to watch the degree of colitis or for dysplasia.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 20-year-old female asked:

How can you die for ulcerative colitis?

2 doctor answers4 doctors weighed in
Dr. Addagada Rao
General Surgery 58 years experience
NO If you take care : Ulcerative colitis most of the time could be controlled , with aim of prolonged remission, possible to prevent most of complications , need to be followed by a professional team ( doctors ) negligence , or delay in seeing professional help could be lethal , as complications like toxic megacolon , perforation , malignancy etc are part of this treacherous disease
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 47-year-old member asked:

What are tests for ulcerative colitis?

3 doctor answers6 doctors weighed in
Dr. Michael Fisher
Dermatology 34 years experience
Ulcerative colitis: Ulcerative colitis can be relatively easy to diagnose because it normally affects only the colon and rectum and usually causes an obvious change in daily bowel habits, such as frequent stools containing blood or mucus. Your doctor will conduct a medical history and physical exam before doing other tests.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 43-year-old member asked:

What's the difference between "colitis" and "ulcerative colitis"?

1 doctor answer2 doctors weighed in
Dr. Barry Rosen
General Surgery 36 years experience
Colon inflammation: "colitis" is defined as inflammation of the colon, which can be subcategorized as infectious (c. Diff, etc), inflammatory (crohn's dz, ulcerative colitis), or ischemic (poor blood supply). Colitis will typically cause (bloody) diarrhea and abdominal pain. Each of these types of colitis have characteristic laboratory, radiographic, and endoscopic differences to help reach the correct diagnosis.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 42-year-old member asked:

What is done for ulcerative colitis?

2 doctor answers7 doctors weighed in
Dr. Tracy Berg
General Surgery 34 years experience
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.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.

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Last updated Jun 14, 2019

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