Coping with ULCERATIVE COLITIS

This is a long-term inflammation of the colon and rectum

- Dr Gill Jenkins

The colon is the large intestine (bowel) and the rectum is at the end of the bowel where stools are stored.

The main symptoms of ulcerative colitis include recurring diarrhoea, which may contain blood, mucus or pus, needing to empty your bowels frequently, abdominal pain, fatigue, loss of appetite and weight loss.

Symptom severity varies, depending on the extent of the inflammation, but can have a significant effect on everyday living. You may go for weeks or months with few symptoms, even none at all in remission, then get flare-ups where the symptoms are much worse, with symptoms elsewhere in their body, such as painful and swollen joints or skin, mouth ulcers and red eyes. When severe, you may become dehydrated, breathless, feverish and pass blood.

It affects one in 420, is often diagnosed in the late teens with a family history and in certain ethnic groups, suggesting genetics are a factor. It’s also more common if you live in urban areas.

The cause

This is unclear, but is probably an autoimmune condition – your immune system fights tissues, mistakenly seeing them as ‘foreign’. Usually, there’s no specific trigger, although gut infections or stress may be relevant.

See your GP promptly. They will examine you and arrange blood and stool testing, and refer you to a specialist for further tests, including CT or ultrasound scans and the support of a care team. Once you have been diagnosed, the specialist will be available when you have a flare-up.