Inflammatory bowel disease or IBD: Symptoms, Causes and Risk Factors
Inflammatory bowel disease is a broad term that covers the disorders of chronic inflammation of the digestive tract.
Types of inflammatory bowel diseases are:
Ulcerative colitis: Ulcerative colitis is a condition where there is ulceration of the inner lining of the colon and the rectum. This is a long-lasting condition.
Crohn’s disease: In Crohn’s disease there is inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract which spreads deep into affected tissues.
Inflammatory bowel disease is debilitating and sometimes life-threatening too.
Symptoms:
The symptoms vary depending on the severity and site of the inflammation. The symptoms are usually intermittent.
The symptoms are:
- Abdominal pain and distress
- Diarrhoea, sometimes bloody diarrhoea
- The severe urge to pass stools.
- Fever
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Anemia, because of blood loss
- Pus or mucous in the stool
- Vomiting
- Night sweat
- Fatigue
- Painful bowel movements
Associated symptoms:
- Joint pain
- Oral thrush
- Inflammation of eyes
- Irregular menstruation
- Painful coitus in women.
- Growth impairment in children having this illness.
Causes:
There is no known cause for inflammatory bowel disease but the factors that are believed to cause inflammatory bowel disease are:
- Abnormal immune response to bacteria, viruses and certain food that fuel an inflammatory reaction in the gut.
- Family history with biological close relatives suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases.
- Coli and entrovirus, causes Crohn’s disease.
- Smoking tobacco
- Diet
- Using oral contraceptive
- Breastfeeding
- Antibiotics
Risk factors:
The risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease are:
- People under the age of 30 are at higher risk.
- People with close biological relatives are at higher risk.
- People who smoke tobacco
- Women who use oral contraceptive pills.
- Medicines, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increase the risk of inflammatory bowel disease.
- People with Caucasian and Ashkenazi ethnicity are at higher risk.
- People who have undergone the appendectomy.
- Excessive consumption of sweets, fatty, and oily food increases the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease.
- Certain microorganisms in the intestinal flora increase the risk.
- Stress
Complications:
The complications associated with inflammatory bowel disease can be dealt with under the following two heading:
Complications associated with ulcerative colitis:
- Perforation of the intestine due to chronic inflammation and ulceration. The perforation is life-threatening.
- Fulminant colitis
- Toxic megacolon
- Increased risk of colorectal cancer
Complications associated with Crohn’s disease:
- Intestinal obstruction caused due to swelling and scar formation. The thickening of the intestinal wall causes narrowing of intestinal passage.
- An abscess caused by a bacterial infection in the intestinal pockets.
- Fistula
- Fissure
- Malnourishment
- Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
Lifestyle tips:
Some lifestyle tips to control symptoms to flare are:
- Limit dairy products
- Consume less sugar
- Avoid fatty and oily food
- Take care of fiber
- Avoid the problem aggravating food
- Eat small meals
- Drink plenty of water and fluids
- Take nutritional supplements
- Quit smoking tobacco
- Reduce stress
- Exercise regularly
- Try breathing exercises
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