Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Do YOU know the signs and symptoms?

Do you know the symptoms for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

IT'S a condition affecting over 145,000 people in the UK but do we really know everything we should about Inflammatory Bowel Disease?

 

Ulcerative Colitis is where the colon and rectum become inflamed and ulcerated; it's an unpleasant and uncomfortable disease. 

Interestingly, Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are the two main forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease - and these two affect more than 300,000 people in the UK.

 

And it's estimated Ulcerative Colitis - a relatively unheard of disease - affects about one in every 420 people in the UK.

But what exactly is Inflammatory Bowel Disease and how does it affect people? Dr Guy Sisson from the Darent Valley Hospital has done an in-depth study into the subject. 

 

Inflammatory Bowel Disease affects over 145,000 Britonseorgie noticed the crisis affecting locals, but it wasn't a dramatic turn of events

His research revealed IBD is a debilitating condition with sufferers’ often having to remain housebound or change careers due to needing to be close to a bathroom.

Crohn’s Disease is a condition that causes inflammation of the digestive system or gut, he reports. 

Crohn’s can affect any part of the gut, though the most common area affected  is the end of the ileum (the last part of the small intestine), or the colon.

Another part of IBD is Ulcerative Colitis. This is a condition that causes inflammation and ulceration of the inner lining of the rectum and colon (the large bowel). 

Dr Guy's report claims having UC means tiny ulcers develop on the surface of the lining and these may bleed and produce pus. 

The inflammation usually begins in the rectum and lower colon, but it may affect the entire colon. 

If UC only affects the rectum, it is called proctitis, while if it affects the whole colon it may be called total colitis or pancolitis.

Worryingly, both Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are chronic conditions, meaning they are ongoing and life-long. 

Many patients will find they have periods of good health (remission), as well as times when symptoms are more active (relapses or flare-ups).

 

IBD can also refer to Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

IBD symptoms include diarrhoea (up to 30 times a day), cramping pains in the abdomen, tiredness and fatigue, feeling generally unwell or feverish, loss of appetite and weight loss, anaemia (a reduced level of red blood cells).

In fact, sufferers can take up to 30 trips to the loo every day, which impacts upon work and personal relationships. 

There has been a breakthrough, however. Symprove - a water-based multi-strain supplement that contains 4 unique strains of live activated bacteria - has been shown to help sufferers. 

In fact, the producers of Symprove claim just four weeks into taking the live liquid bacteria can reduce intestinal inflammation by up to 76 per cent.