Ulcerative Colitis Recipes and Information

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Definition

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease.  The disease is characterised by inflammation limited to the large intestine.  Symptoms include bloody diarrhoea, abdominal pain and urgency to pass faeces^1_.

The disease can be divided broadly into distal and more widespread disease.  'Distal' ulcerative colitis is where the disease is confined to the rectum, also known as proctitis, or the last part of the large bowel.  More widespread disease includes left sided colitis, which reaches the horizontal part of the large intestine and pancolitis which affects the whole of the large intestine^3_.

Often in severe UC restorative surgery is required and a pouch is formed in the intestinal system.  About 15-46% of patients go on to develop pouchitis, a major complication of the surgery, where the lining of the pouch becomes inflamed and active disease is present².

Symptoms of active ulcerative colitis include severe abdominal pain, bloody stools, increased stool frequency³.

Prevalence

The incidence of UC is 10-20 per 100,000 per year, with a reported prevalence of 100-200 per 100,000³.  The prevalence figure is likely to be an underestimate as this is a figure assuming 10 years disease prevalence, when in fact it is a lifelong condition.

It has a peak incidence between the ages of 10 and 40 years¹.  The incidence rate in North America is 2.2 - 14.3 per 100,000, with most new cases presenting with distal colitis(proctitis) or where the disease is limited to the left side of the large intestine⁵.

There are marked difference between ethnic groups, with populations in the Western regions such as the UK and America having higher incidences that Eastern countries, and some ethnic groups eg Ashkenazi Jews have a particularly high incidence³.  As many as 1.4 million persons in the United States and 2.2 million persons in Europe suffer from inflammatory bowel diseases⁴.

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