What is Ulcerative Colitis?

What is ulcerative colitis? Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammation of the large intestine, also known as the colon. The colon is the section of bowel where waste (stool) is stored. The colon is then attached to the rectum, where stool is then released from the body. Crohn's disease, often confused with ulcerative colitis, affects all sections of the intestines, whereas ulcerative colitis only affects the colon.

In ulcerative colitis, the lining of the intestine becomes inflamed, and ulcers can be present as well. This inflammation leads to intestinal bleeding, often seen in the stool of the ulcerative colitis patient, as well as abdominal pain and cramping, diarrhea, exhaustion and sometimes nausea.

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease can also be referred to as inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD. Often, a person may say they have IBD, when in fact that have ulcerative colitis or Crohn's. More or less, it means the same thing.

Ulcerative colitis affects people of all ages, but primarily affects both men and women in their teenage years and early adulthood. Ulcerative colitis does not tend to affect one sex mroe than the other. Ulcerative colitis also has a strong showing in older ages as well. Regardless of age, ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease, that never fully heals or goes away.

While it may go into remission, the possibility for an ulcerative colitis flare up is always a risk. That is why lifestyle management is very important for people diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.