signs of ulcerative colitis

What is ulcerative colitis? It is an inflammatory bowel disease that affects the mucosa and submucosa of the large intestine (colon and rectum), therefore engaging in physical activity – constantly and according to each person’s capabilities – and maintaining a healthy body weight are the two first tips that can be applied to this type of patient.

Patients with chronic ulcerative colitis are 30% more likely to develop colorectal cancer.

avoid overweight and obesity comes hand in hand with high content fruit and vegetablesas well as reduce eating food high fiber, fatty or fried and alcoholic, caffeinated and sweet drinks.

Another important habit for patients with ulcerative colitis is to maintain good hydration, since it is one of the complications of this disease is severe dehydration.

Symptoms may vary depending on the severity of the disease inflammation and where it occurs.

Rectal bleeding; constant diarrhea, it can be with pus or blood; pain in the rectum and in the stomach; the urgent need to defecate and the inability to do so despite the urge; fever for no apparent reason; and fatigue and weight loss are some of its symptoms.

Its exact causes are unknown, but it is believed to be related to a disorder of the immune system and hereditary factors, as it is more common in people with family originpoints out Dr. Gastón Solano, Medical Director of Inflammation and Immunology at Pfizer for Central America and the Caribbean (CAC).’

Currently, ulcerative colitis patients have very effective treatments that can control the disease and put a person in remission to maintain it. Its mode of action is to reduce inflammation in the wall of the large intestine and alleviate the symptoms of diarrhea, abdominal pain and bleeding from the rectum. If remission cannot be achieved, the doctor will try to reduce the impact of the disease in order to enable the person to have a better quality of life.

“This disease usually begins before the age of 30, although there are also cases in advanced age (older than 60 years), and the cumulative risk of colon cancer also increases with its duration,” he adds.

A common factor in many diseases and it is advisable to eliminate it in order to reduce the outbreak of ulcerative colitis and outlook the development of cancer – including colorectal – is the habit of smoking.

In addition, swallowing is not recommended for these patients non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (aspirin or others), because they can cause serious side effects.

People with ulcerative colitis are advised to chew their food well (eat slowly) and limit the intake of those with a lot of fiber (seeds and corn, including popcorn), because since they do not digest them small intestine can cause diarrhea.

Another recommendation goes hand in hand with how important it is to control the stress of the situation, because it can worsen the condition symptoms.