Gastroenterological disease ulcerative colitis or UC is diffuse chronic inflammation with ulceration of the mucous membrane of the colon and rectum. This disease can begin at any age. But in most cases it occurs in young people (from twenty to forty years old). Although in medical practice there are cases of the first attack of ulcerative colitis in infants and patients between fifty and seventy years. But this is more an exception than a rule.
Ulce is equally common in people of both sexes, although recently men have become sick more often (1.4: 1). The number of city dwellers is higher than that of rural residents. In 90% of cases, nonspecific colitis is not limited to a single attack and recurs throughout life.
To date, there is no unequivocal opinion of doctors about the cause of nonspecific colitis. One of the main factors in the onset of the disease is considered a hereditary predisposition. Relatives of the patient have a tenfold chance of developing ulcerative colitis. And if both parents were treated in their life Because of this disease, the risk of colitis in a child by twenty years increases by half.
This is a chronic ailment that gives serious complications. Therefore, in most cases, patients who have revealed a disease of ulcerative colitis, treatment is carried out in a hospital.
Symptoms of Ulce
The clinical picture of the disease directly depends on the severity of the inflammatory process and its prevalence in the colon.
The main symptoms of this disease are diarrhea with blood, purulent or mucous secretions against a background of high temperature, worsening of general well-being, apathy, weight loss. On average, the frequency of stool is four to six times during the day (including night time). If the disease is launched and proceeds severely, then in such cases, liquid blood stool can be up to twenty times a day and night. The amount of excreted feces with diarrhea is small or absent altogether - only pus and blood, mixed with mucus, are released.
In addition to the main symptoms, many patients complain of ulcerative colitis or its relapse:
- Fifty percent - for severe abdominal pain, occurring in the form of contractions and accompanied by pains. Many note a false urge to empty the intestines and a feeling of incomplete cleansing.
- Sixty percent of patients, in addition to the main symptoms of the disease, exhibit extraintestinal symptoms: damage to the eyes (conjunctivitis, iritis, iridocyclitis), joints, oral cavity, skin and other organs and systems. Often these lesions are a harbinger of intestinal manifestations of the disease.
Complications:
- profuse bleeding (intestinal) from the anus;
- rupture of the intestinal wall;
- the formation of fistulas and the formation of abscesses;
- narrowing of the intestinal lumen;
- the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer.
Nonspecific ulcerative colitis. Home treatment
Treatment for such a serious ailment rarely performed at home. This is practiced only with a mild form of the disease and requires unquestioning compliance with all doctor's prescriptions and a strict diet.
Nonspecific ulcerative colitis. Inpatient treatment
Hospitalization of patients with symptoms of ulcerative colitis is preferably carried out in the department of coloproctology or gastroenterology, where there is specialized equipment with which you can carry out x-ray and endoscopic examinations, make histological and coprological tests, conduct a fecal examination for bacteriological flora. In the hospital, based on the research results, the doctor will establish a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, the treatment of which cannot be started without a detailed examination.
The treatment of this disease is carried out both by therapeutic means and by surgery. In eighty percent of cases, the improvement in the condition of patients occurs as a result of taking antibiotics, immunomodulators and hormonal drugs, which are individually selected by each doctor by a doctor.
Surgical intervention is used in severe cases of the course of the disease with complications - with bleeding, rupture or narrowing of the intestine, up to intestinal obstruction or the development of cancer. Also, surgery, as the only treatment method, is considered by doctors if the patient develops a toxic form of colitis or pseudopoliposis occurs.
Methods of modern medicine are very effective in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. With their help, most patients achieve complete and long-term remission.