Colitis
colitis is a digestive disease characterized by inflammation of the colon or large intestine. The term “colitis” may be used to refer to any of a number of disorders involving the colon.
Symptoms include diarrhea (often with blood and mucus), abdominal pain, fever, anemia, rectal bleeding, and ulcerations of the colon.
Ulcerative colitis is a serious chronic inflammation and ulceration of the lining of the colon and rectum. Another form of colitis, called Crohn's disease, has similar signs and includes thickening of the intestinal wall. The disease typically occurs in the small intestine near the point where it joins the colon, but the colon and other parts of the gastrointestinal tract may be affected as well. The term “inflammatory bowel disease” has been used to refer to both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, the causes of which are unknown.
Prolonged use of antibiotics can also cause colitis, either by direct irritation of the colon or by killing bacteria that normally live in the intestine, allowing the toxin-producing bacteria to proliferate.
Source: The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
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