Ulcerative colitis

Introduction: Ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammation and ulceration in the large intestine. It is related to Crohn's disease and both are categorized as inflammatory bowel disease. See also peptic ulcer, stomach ulcer, and other causes of bowel inflammation or bowel symptoms.

Symptoms of Ulcerative colitis

• Recurring attacks of symptoms varying in intensity and frequency
• Symptoms of severe attacks:
  • Bloody diarrhea
  • Watery diarrhea
  • High fever

See full list of 26 symptoms of Ulcerative colitis

Medical Textbooks Online about Ulcerative colitis

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Ulcerative colitis

• Physical exam
• Blood tests
• CBC
• Colonoscopy
• Barium enema x-ray

Read more about tests for Ulcerative colitis

Wrongly Diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis?

• Misdiagnosis of Ulcerative colitis
• Failure to diagnose Ulcerative colitis
• Underlying causes of Ulcerative colitis (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Failure to diagnose Ulcerative colitis

Misdiagnosis and Ulcerative colitis

Chronic digestive conditions often misdiagnosed: When diagnosing chronic symptoms of the digestive tract, there are a variety of conditions that may be misdiagnosed. The best known, ...read more »

Intestinal bacteria disorder may be hidden cause: One of the lesser known causes of diarrhea is an imbalance of bacterial in the gut, sometimes called intestinal imbalance. The digestive system contains a variety of "good" bacteria that...read more »

Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely to cause some level of diarrhea in patients. The reason is that antibiotics kill...read more »

Food poisoning may actually be an infectious disease: Many people who come down with "stomach symptoms" like diarrhea assume that it's "something I ate" (i.e. food poisoning). In fact, it's...read more »

Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the more feared conditions for a child with abdominal pain, it can be over-diagnosed (it can, of course, also fail to...read more »

Celiac disease often fails to be diagnosed cause of chronic digestive symptoms: One of the most common chronic digestive conditions is celiac disease, a malabsorption disorder...read more »

Chronic digestive diseases hard to diagnose: There is an inherent difficulty in diagnosing the various types of chronic digestive diseases. Some of the better known possibilities are peptic ulcer, colon cancer, irritable bowel...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Ulcerative colitis

Causes of Ulcerative colitis

Read more about causes of Ulcerative colitis.

More information about causes of Ulcerative colitis:

• Ulcerative colitis as a symptom

Treatments for Ulcerative colitis

• Lifestyle changes
  • Bed rest
  • Diet changes - avoiding whatever foods seem to trigger it for the individual (e.g. spices, dairy foods)
  • Low-fiber diet
  • Avoid cold wet weather

See full list of 30 treatments for Ulcerative colitis

Videos for Ulcerative colitis

Patient Surveys for Ulcerative colitis

• Patient Profile Survey
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• Survey about the symptoms of your Ulcerative colitis
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Reseach about Ulcerative colitis

Visit our research pages for current research about Ulcerative colitis treatments.

Clinical Trials for Ulcerative colitis

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Ulcerative colitis include:

• A Long Term Safety Study of Infliximab (Remicade) - This study is no longer recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• A Dose-Finding Study of OPC-6535 in Patients With Active Ulcerative Colitis - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Tetomilast
• Immune Regulation in Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Once Daily Versus Conventional Dosing of Asacol in the Maintenance of Quiescent Ulcerative Colitis - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Asacol (mesalamine)
• An Observational Follow-up Study for Subjects Receiving Salvage Therapy After Previous Treatment in a Visilizumab Study for Intravenous Steroid-Refractory Ulcerative Colitis - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Visilizumab (Nuvion®; HuM291)

See full list of 71 Clinical Trials for Ulcerative colitis

Statistics for Ulcerative colitis

• Medical statistics for Ulcerative colitis
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Ulcerative colitis
• Death and Mortality statistics for Ulcerative colitis
• Society statistics for Ulcerative colitis

Medical Guidebooks and Ebooks for Ulcerative colitis

• Icon Health Sourcebook for Ulcerative colitis

See all guides and ebooks for Ulcerative colitis

Stories from Users Related to Ulcerative colitis

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Ulcerative colitis, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Article Excerpts about Ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes inflammation and sores, called ulcers, in the top layers of the lining of the large intestine. The inflammation usually occurs in the rectum and lower part of the colon, but it may affect the entire colon. Ulcerative colitis rarely affects the small intestine except for the lower section, called the ileum. Ulcerative colitis may also be called colitis, ileitis, or proctitis. (Source: excerpt from Ulcerative Colitis: NIDDK)

Definitions of Ulcerative colitis:

Chronic, recurrent ulceration of the colon mucosa and submucosa. - (Source - Diseases Database)

A serious chronic inflammatory disease of the large intestine and rectum characterized by recurrent episodes of abdominal pain and fever and chills and profuse diarrhea - (Source - WordNet 2.1)

Ophanet, a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when it affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Ulcerative colitis as a "rare disease".
Source - Orphanet