Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a form of a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The "ulcerative" refers to ulcers, which is a discontinuity or break in a membrane or lining, preventing an organ from performing its function. The "col" refers to the colon, otherwise known as the large intestine, and "itis" means inflammation. Overall it means "inflammation in the form of ulcers in the colon".

Symptoms

The main symptom of ulcerative colitis is diarrhoea, often with blood in it. This is because the  colon's function is to absorb water from faeces, and it cannot do this when the lining the covered in ulcers. This causes extreme weight loss and a frequent need to go to the toilet. Other symptoms include vomiting and severe abdominal pain.

Diagnosis

A definite way to determine whether a patient has ulcerative colitis is to look inside the colon at the walls during a colonoscopy, where a tube with a camera and light at the end is put up the patient's anus and up to the colon. The doctor can then see clear evidence for ulcers on a TV monitor of what the camera is filming.

Causes

There is no cure for ulcerative colitis, meaning it is a chronic disease. There is some loose evidence for it running it families, for example my great-grandmother had IBD, but we are unsure of exactly what she had because in those days it was not common to talk about things like that. However, it is not a particular allele, or combination of alleles that directly causes UC. Instead it is more likely that certain genetics make you more susceptible to get it. For this reason it is classed as partially genetic, and partially environmental because certain factors, such as smoking and diet, affects it. You cannot "catch" UC, and is classed an an immune disease, rather than fungal, bacterial or viral.

Treatment

Although UC is chronic, there are many drugs and treatments that can be used to manage the symptoms. Generally it is treated as an autoimmune disease, and can be treated using immuno-suppressants and anti inflammatory medicines. In severe cases where medicine is unable to control the symptoms, either part or all of the colon is removed.