How does colitis affect the body

Also, because the colon cannot hold as much waste as normal, very frequent bowel movements six or more a day may occur. They may also change over time, with periods of remission where you have good health and no symptoms, alternating with relapses or flare-ups, when your symptoms are troublesome. Colitis is a very individual condition - some people can remain well for a long time, even for many years, while others have frequent flare-ups.

Your symptoms may vary according to how much of the colon is inflamed and how severe the inflammation is, but the most common symptoms during a flare-up are:.

You are more likely to develop anaemia if you are losing a lot of blood or not eating well. Anaemia can make you feel very tired. Also, much can depend on the severity of your condition and on whether your disease is in a quiet or an active phase.

Some people with Colitis may never have more than mild and infrequent symptoms of diarrhoea and pain, so the illness may not affect their lives very much. Other people have continuous and severe symptoms in spite of medical treatment, and have to adapt their lifestyle considerably.

We also have information sheets on Managing Bloating and Wind and Diarrhoea and Constipation, amongst other symptoms. You are likely to see your GP and specialist doctor on a fairly regular basis if you have Colitis.

Many hospitals also have a specialist IBD nurse, who is often the first point of contact for information and support when you are unwell. It can be very helpful to build a good relationship with your healthcare team, so that you can ask about your options and discuss any concerns and worries.

Living with a chronic condition can have both an emotional and practical impact. It can help to have the understanding and support of those around you — your family, friends, work colleagues and employers.

We have information that may be useful, such as IBD and Employment: A guide for employers , and IBD and Employment: A guide for employees , as well as similar publications for students and universities. See the How we can help you section at the end of this booklet for more information. You may still find that Colitis takes a considerable toll on your emotional wellbeing. In this case, you may find it helpful to talk to a counsellor.

Our information on Counselling and IBD has information on how counselling may be able to help. I have a good relationship with my local hospital and am fortunate to have an excellent IBD nurse. Knowing that I can contact her when I start to experience a flare-up, and knowing that she will help as much as she can, helps to reduce the stress of the situation and speed up treatment. Colitis is more common in urban than rural areas, and in northern developed countries - although the numbers are beginning to increase in developing nations.

Colitis is also more common in white Europeans, especially those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent those who lived in Eastern Europe and Russia. Colitis affects women and men equally.

However, health professionals consider the risks of smoking greatly outweigh any benefits seen in Colitis, and strongly discourage smoking in anyone, whether or not they have IBD. For more details, see our information on Smoking and IBD. Although there has been much research, we still do not know exactly what causes Ulcerative Colitis.

However major advances have been made over the past few years, particularly in genetics. Ulcerative Colitis is generally categorised according to how much of the large intestine is affected. The diagram shows the three main types: proctitis, left- sided or distal colitis, and total or pancolitis. In proctitis, only the rectum the lowest part of the large bowel is inflamed.

This means that the rest of the colon is unaffected and can still function normally. For many people with proctitis, the main symptom is passing fresh blood, or bloodstained mucus.

You may get diarrhoea, or you may have normal stools or even constipation. You may also feel an urgent need to rush to the toilet. Because the inflamed rectum is more sensitive, some people with proctitis often feel that they have an urge to pass a stool, but cannot pass anything as the bowel is actually empty. This is called tenesmus.

In some people, the sigmoid colon the short curving piece of colon nearest the rectum may also be inflamed — a form of Colitis sometimes known as proctosigmoiditis. The symptoms are similar to those of proctitis, although constipation is less likely. In this type of Colitis, the inflammation involves the distal colon, which includes the rectum and the left side of the colon also known as the descending colon. Symptoms include diarrhoea with blood and mucus, pain on the left side of the abdomen, urgency and tenesmus.

Colitis that affects the whole colon is known as total colitis or pancolitis. If the inflammation affects most of the colon, but not all of it, it is known as extensive colitis. Extensive and total colitis can cause very frequent diarrhoea with blood, mucus, and sometimes pus a thicker, more yellow fluid than mucus. You may also have severe abdominal cramps and pain, tenesmus, fever and weight loss.

In milder flare-ups, the main symptom may be diarrhoea or looser stools without blood. In very rare cases, Ulcerative Colitis can cause additional problems in the gut. These complications include:. A stricture is a narrowing of the bowel caused by ongoing inflammation that can make it difficult for faeces stool to pass through the colon. Strictures do not usually occur in Colitis, but can sometimes be a sign of bowel cancer. Very active inflammation in the bowel wall or a severe blockage caused by a stricture may occasionally lead to a perforation rupture of the bowel.

This makes a hole which the contents of the bowel can leak through. This is a rare medical emergency, symptoms of which include severe abdominal pain, fever, nausea and vomiting. When the inflammation is extensive and severe, digestive gases may get trapped in the colon, making it swell up.

This is known as toxic megacolon, which can occur in up to one in 40 people with Colitis. Symptoms include a high fever as well as pain and tenderness in the abdomen.

It is essential to get treatment quickly for this condition, as surgery may be necessary. People with Colitis, in particular those who have had pouch surgery see What about surgical treatment , can in rare circumstances develop fistulas.

A fistula is an abnormal channel or passageway connecting one internal organ to another, or to the outside surface of the body. Most fistulas also called fistulae if more than one start in the wall of the intestine and connect parts of the bowel to each other, the vagina, bladder, or skin particularly around the anus. We have more information about living with a fistula. Ulcerative Colitis can cause problems outside the gut.

These usually happen during a flare-up, but can occur during remission or even before any gut symptoms appear. Joint problems, such as swelling and pain arthritis , affect around one in 10 people with Colitis.

The elbows, wrists, knees and ankles, are most commonly affected, but joints in the spine and pelvis can also be affected. Joint problems can come and go — for some people joint problems will get worse during a flare-up, but others may be affected even without any gut symptoms. For information on the diagnosis and treatment of joint problems, and things you can do to help your joints, see our information about Joints.

Colitis can also cause skin problems. A condition called erythema nodosum affects about one in 10 people with Colitis. It causes painful red swellings, usually on the legs, that fade to a bruise-like mark.

If you have been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and think you may be having a severe flare-up, contact a GP or your care team for advice. This means the immune system, the body's defence against infection, goes wrong and attacks healthy tissue. The most popular theory is that the immune system mistakes harmless bacteria inside the colon for a threat and attacks the tissues of the colon, causing it to become inflamed.

Most experts think it's a combination of genetic and environmental factors. It's estimated around 1 in every people living in the UK has ulcerative colitis. This amounts to around , people. The condition can develop at any age, but is most often diagnosed in people aged from 15 to 25 years old.

It's more common in white people of European descent, especially those descended from Ashkenazi Jewish communities, and black people. The condition is rarer in people from Asian backgrounds, although the reasons for this are unclear. Treatment for ulcerative colitis aims to relieve symptoms during a flare-up and prevent symptoms from returning maintaining remission. Mild to moderate flare-ups can usually be treated at home.

Sorry something went wrong with your subscription Please, try again in a couple of minutes Retry. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Feldman M, et al, eds. Epidemiology, pathogenesis, and diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases. Elsevier; Accessed July 22, Goldman L, et al. Inflammatory bowel disease. In: Goldman-Cecil Medicine. The facts about inflammatory bowel diseases. Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. Ulcerative colitis.

Accessed Aug. What is ulcerative colitis? Kliegman RM. Inflammatory bowel diseases. In: Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. Chronic ulcerative colitis. Mayo Clinic; Abraham B, et al. Antibiotics and probiotics in inflammatory bowel disease: When to use them? Frontline Gastroenterology.

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