What is Colitis and What Causes It?
Colitis, also known as ulcerative colitis, affects your colon, causing diarrhea, abdominal pain, and other symptoms that can be severe. Colitis develops due to the abnormal functioning of your immune system. Your immune system attacks the contents of your colon, including the food and bacteria, as if they were foreign substances. White blood cells are sent to your colon, which causes inflammation, ulcerations, and severe pain.
Signs and Symptoms of Colitis
Common signs and symptoms of colitis include chronic diarrhea, which may include blood or pus, chronic abdominal pain and severe cramping, rectal pain, rectal bleeding, and blood in your stool. You may also experience frequent and urgent bowel movements and problems defecating. Fever, fatigue, and unintended weight loss are also common signs and symptoms.
How Colitis is Diagnosed
Colitis is diagnosed and treated by a gastroenterologist, who may order laboratory testing, imaging studies, a colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or other procedures to aid in diagnosis.
Treatment of Colitis
Common professional treatments for colitis include immune suppressor medications like Remicade to keep your immune system from producing excess inflammation-causing proteins known as TNF-alpha. Remicade is administered intravenously, directly into your bloodstream.
Administration of Remicade is an outpatient procedure with a series of three starting doses. After the initial administration of three doses, maintenance doses every eight weeks are recommended to manage colitis symptoms. Remicade patients have shown an improvement in their colitis symptoms in 6 out of 10 cases. Many Remicade patients have gone into remission after one year of treatment.
Your gastroenterologist may also recommend dietary and lifestyle modifications to help reduce and manage symptoms.
Want To Know More About Colitis?
To find out more about the signs, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of Colitis, talk with an expert.
