Often difficult to diagnose thanks to the wide range of symptoms and related diseases, it’s thought that colitis in one form or another affects nearly 1 in 1000 Americans. Regular acute colitis can affect your eating habits and cause fatigue, greatly impacting your quality of life. At Centers for Digestive Health in Highland, Merrillville, Gary, Dyer, Crown Point, and DeMotte, Indiana, the team identifies and treats these rankling conditions. To schedule your consultation, call the office or schedule an appointment online today.
By itself, colitis refers to an inflammation of the inner lining of your colon. Colitis often serves as a blanket term for a variety of digestive disorders that can lead to inflammation, such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s colitis, infectious colitis, and lymphocytic colitis.
Colitis can have a variety of causes depending on the type of colitis you’re suffering from. Generally, types of colitis are characterized based on their cause:
Your gut is home to millions of bacteria and they play an important role in the normal functioning of your body. However, if something disrupts the bacterial balance in your gut, such as a bacterial foreign invader or an overgrowth of a certain bacteria, you can end up with an infection and inflammation.
If your colon fails to get enough blood supply to receive the oxygen and nutrients it needs, it can become inflamed. This is caused by conditions affecting blood flow, such as anemia or low blood pressure.
Some diseases that affect the intestines, such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, cause regular colitis as part of their symptoms.
A relatively rare cause of colitis, microscopic colitis occurs when collagen or lymphocytes enter the inner walls of your colon.
Given the variety of colitis causes, your potential symptoms can range depending on the type and severity of colitis. Some of the most common symptoms include:
Some types of colitis might have symptoms that are more severe, such as fever or weight loss, or are only visible with a professional diagnosis, such as the presence of ulcers.
Prior to treatment, your provider at Centers for Digestive Health uses X-rays to examine your colon and intestines and determine the exact cause of your colitis. Depending on what they find, your treatment may include one or several of the following:
Colitis caused by an infection might benefit from antibacterial or antibiotic medications, depending on the bacteria. If you suffer from an irritable bowel disease, anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressant medications can help reduce inflammation.
If you’re suffering from ischemic colitis, you might need plenty of fluids to restore nutrients and rest your bowels.
Some people find that certain foods will set off acute bouts of colitis. Your provider might recommend keeping a food journal to help track what foods might contribute to your symptoms.
For less severe bouts of colitis, you might find that symptoms resolve on their own. Getting plenty of rest and minding your food and water intake can help speed recovery along.
If you suffer from colitis and want help keeping your symptoms under control, let the providers at Centers for Digestive Health offer their expertise. Call or schedule an appointment online today.
