Health&Wellness Magazine February 2014 | страница 9

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Colitis
By Jamie Lober, Staff Writer
When people think of Crohn’s,
colitis sometimes comes to mind
since it is a related condition. “Colitis
is an autoimmune disease of the
intestine that involves the colon,” says
Dr. Kathleen Martin, gastroenterologist at St. Joseph Gastroenterology
Associates East and honorary walk
chair for the 2013 Lexington Take
Steps Walk. Colitis has a different
pattern of involvement than Crohn’s

disease. “The inflammation will be
in patchy areas with normal areas in
between,” says Martin. Presentation is
the same for almost everyone: “There
is a lot of abdominal pain, diarrhea,
frequently nausea, bleeding, weight
loss, fatigue and fever.”
Other diseases may be associated
with colitis. “Arthritis is a big problem
in patients with colitis and we know
that there is an increased risk of colon
cancer after you have had the disease
for seven years.” This knowledge has
led medical professionals such as Dr.
Martin to be proactive: “We have had
to start screening for colon cancers
in young people with colitis to avoid

having them go on to develop colon
cancer at a young age.” There are
no real measures to prevent colitis,
aside from avoiding non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs, since the
cause of the condition is unknown.
However, there are thought to be
hereditary factors and Martin notes
that “certain genetic markers are more
common in colitis patients.”
Colitis is often suspected based
on the CT scan or blood work, and
diagnosis is straightforward — by
colonoscopy. It is important to rule
out other conditions. “Whenever
we diagnose someone we always
check and make sure there is no sign
of intestinal infection that could be
mimicking colitis,” says Martin.
Colitis is more common than you
may think and management is somewhat similar to Crohn’s. “We have
good oral medications that work well
but because the disease is just in the
colon and not the small intestine,
we have medications that only affect
the colon,” says Martin. Most people
do well despite the fact that colitis
is a lifelong condition. Medication
can usually put people in remission. The triggers remain uncertain.
“Occasionally people have flares of
colitis that seem to occur more in the
spring and fall for some reason, possibly related to allergy, but we find
as people get older that they do not
need as much medicine.”

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Since colitis is limited to the colon,
the colon can be removed in extreme
cases. “Someone would have a connection of their small intestine to the
rectum and that will usually get rid of
their colitis, so surgery can be curative although they can still unfortunately have liver disease that is associated with it.” Martin cautions that “we
usually reserve the surgery for people
who cannot get better with the medicine or we are worried about the risk
of colon cancer increasing.”
Sometimes diet can help but there
are no guarantees. Martin advises that
patients “stay away from fermentable
sugars that can cause gas, bloating
and discomfort such as lactose.”
Research is still revealing