subject: Understanding Inflammatory Bowel Disease (ibd) [print this page] Do you experience abdominal pain, or frequent diarrhea? More than 600,000 Americans have some kind of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) every year. The term inflammatory bowel disease covers a group of disorders in which the intestines become inflamed, probably as a result of an immune reaction of the body against its own intestinal tissue. There are two main types of IBD, which are ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). These diseases cause inflammation in the digestive tract. With causes of IBD unknown, it is important to visit your gastroenterologist in Bala Cynwyd, Philadelphia and Langhorne, PA for further diagnosis and treatment.
The Symptoms
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is chronic, which means it lasts a long time. As with other chronic diseases, a person with IBD will go through periods in which the disease flares up and causes symptoms followed by periods in which symptoms decrease or disappear and good health returns. Symptoms of IBD can range from mild to sever and generally depend upon what part of the intestinal tract is involved. Some symptoms of IBD include:
*Abdominal cramps and pain
*Bloody diarrhea
*Severe urgency to have a bowel movement
*Fever
*Weight loss
*Loss of appetite
*Iron deficiency anemia due to blood loss
How is IBD Diagnosed?
In order to diagnose inflammatory bowel disease, visit your gastroenterologist in Bala Cynwyd, Philadelphia and Langhorne, PA. Your doctor will make the diagnosis based on your symptoms and various exams and tests. One test might be a stool exam, which will be sent to a laboratory to rule out the possibility of bacterial, viral, or parasitic causes of diarrhea. In addition, your stool sample will also be examined for traces of blood that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Your doctor may also perform a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. In a sigmoidoscopy, your doctor uses a sigmoidscope, which is a narrow, flexible tube with a camera and light to visually examine the last one-third of your large intestine, including the rectum and the sigmoid colon. A colonoscopy is similar to a sigmoidoscopy, except that the doctor will use a colonscope, which is a longer flexible tube, to examine the entire colon.
How is it Treated?
Treatment for inflammatory bowel disease involves a combination of self-care and medical treatment. For starters, diet is one tool you can use to help significantly manage your symptoms. It is important to talk with your gastroenterologist about ways you can modify your diet while making sure you get the nutrients you need. Depending on your symptoms, your gastroenterologist might recommend that you reduce the amount of fiber or dairy products that you consume. Another important part of self-care is to learn how to manage your stress because being stressed can make your symptoms worse.
The goal of medical treatment is to suppress the abnormal inflammatory response so intestinal tissue has a chance to heal. As it heals, the symptoms of diarrhea and abdominal pain should be relieved. Once your symptoms are controlled, medical treatment will then focus on decreasing the frequency of flare-ups and maintaining remission.
Talk to your Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd gastroenterologist today for further diagnosis and treatment of your symptoms.
