Ulcerative Colitis (UC)
Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is a long term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum.
The primary symptoms of active disease are abdominal pain from mild discomfort to painful bowel movements or painful abdominal cramping with bowel movements and diarrhea mixed with blood and mucus, of gradual onset that persists for an extended period (weeks).
Weight loss, fever, and anemia may occur. Often, symptoms come on slowly and can range from mild to severe.
Diagnosis is typically by colonoscopy with tissue biopsies.
It is a kind of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) along with Crohn’s disease and microscopic colitis.
Signs and symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis can include one of the following:
- Feces are often mucus-like and with blood
- Tenesmus (Tenesmus refers to cramping rectal pain. Tenesmus gives you the feeling that you need to have a bowel movement, even if you already have had one. When you have tenesmus, you might strain harder to produce only a small amount of stool during bowel movements.
- Fever —an indication of severe disease
- Weight loss