Ulcerative colitis or ulcerative colitis (if it also involves the rectal area) is a chronic, disabling inflammatory disease of the intestine and affects the last part of the intestine, the colon and the rectum. The disease mainly strikes in the first and second decades of age. Its origin is still idiopathic today but the major etiopathological hypotheses point towards an altered immune response to organisms present in the intestine.
Symptoms:
• Diarrhea frequently accompanied by emission of blood (proctorrhagia)
• Abdominal pain
• Fever
• Weight loss
• Inflammation and manifestations of joints, eyes, skin
Trend
This pathology is characterized by periods of well-being alternating with phases of exacerbation with the presence of some of the symptoms listed above. Stress has been shown to play an important role in flare-ups.
Therapy
The pathology itself is not curable, but it can be managed with various therapeutic strategies capable of acting on the symptoms present at the moment. The drugs usually used are cortisone and mesalazine-based products, immunosuppressants. At a nutritional level, the latest research identifies harmfulness due to excesses of animal fats or deficiencies in fruit and vegetables. If the patient does not respond satisfactorily to medical therapy, a colectomy may be performed.
Diagnosis
In addition to the stool test looking for blood and with calprotectin dosage, the blood test which will highlight anemia, leukocytosis, increased ESR and CRP, the gold standard remains colonoscopy, which allows us to highlight any lesions typical of the pathology and caused by the inflammatory state. The biopsy will confirm or not the diagnosis.