How is colitis treated?
colitis is a disease caused by inflammation of the colon. It usually affects the large intestine and rectum. Scientists do not know what causes colitis, but they suspect that it is the result of an exaggerated immune system for healthy bacteria in the digestive tract. This can also be caused by other types of bacteria or viruses. Treatment varies according to the severity of the patient colitis, but may include medicines, nutritional supplements or diet changes.
The large intestine of the body is responsible for the collection and storage of waste produced by digestion. This muscle tube pushes the waste towards the rectum to remove it from the body. On its way to the rectum, undigested food mixes with bacteria and mucus that lives inside the colon. These mixtures solidify into the stool. When the large or large intestine is inflamed, the body problems may arise.
Symptoms of colitis may include convulsions, constipation, diarrhea, weight loss, loss of appetite, fever, rectal bleeding and anemia. Some people can even experiencejoint pain, skin rash, eye problems or liver disease. People can experience different symptoms of colitis, from mild to heavy. These symptoms can go into remission for several years and reappear.
mild cases of the disease may be treated with diameter medicines that can be purchased through the counter at the local pharmacy. A person can also change the way he eats to control colitis. Corticosteroids and aminosalicylic, two prescription medicines, can also be administered to patients to control or eliminate the symptoms of colitis. These two drugs will also be prescribed to people with moderate to serious cases of the disease, but these patients need higher doses to make drugs effective.
drugs that the suppress immune system of the body, called immunomodulatory drugs, can be prescribed to patients with colitis when aminosalicylate proves ineffective. This particular type of drugs controls colon inflammation. MedicineThe called infliximab is sometimes used for serious cases of this disease to also recover the lining of the large intestine.
When the patient's estate has improved, he attends a doctor for subsequent meetings approximately every six months. Patients whose conditions have not been unstable will be obliged to see doctors more often. Those who experience symptoms that deteriorate, including fever and anemia, will require hospitalization. In some serious cases, the doctor recommends that the patient's large intestine be surgically removed.