Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Gastroenterology (Expert Forum)
Non-specific colitis
This forum is for questions regarding Gastroenterology issues such as Acid Reflux (GERD), Barretts Esophagus, Colitis, Colon/Bowel Disorders, Crohn's Disease, Diverticulitis/Diverticulosis, Digestive Disorders, IBS, Stomach Pain.
 |
Non-specific colitis
by Fatboy Slim, Aug 18, 2002 12:00AM
I am a 35 year old male diagnosed with what we call ME in the UK and I believe its called CFIDS or CFS in the US. For the last few months I have been having some gut/bowel tests done, and so far I have been told I do not have IBS, chrons or ulcerative colitis. The Dr's say the inflamation is/was caused by some sort of virus. Is this what they call an enterocolitis ? (I have read that enteroviruses have been implicated as one of the causes of ME/CFIDS/CFS.) Can inflamation of the colon caused by a virus be called something else other that enterocolitis?
I'm also in the UK and I was diagnosed with Crohn's-colitis (Crohn's in ileum and colon).
There are a number of other inflammatory bowel diseases other than Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, but most people aren't aware of this. Below I have posted about them from an article I wrote for my website.
Kez
Haemolytic-uraemic syndrome colitis
This colitis is part of a disease that affects the colon, as well as the kidneys, blood and brain. It starts as inflammation in the bowel associated with an infection- the bacteria involved are shigella, E-coli & campylobacter. This IBD is closely related to food preparation hygiene and proper cooking, especically chicken and other poultry.
Haemorrhagic colitis (HC)
This is another form of IBD as a result of food poisoning and is caused the the E.coli 0157 bacterium. It is caught through eating unhygienicly prepared meats (ie. they haven't been sufficiently refrigereated to prevent bacteria).
With HC, the sufferer gets very watery, explosive diarrhoea which may have blood in it. It seems to settle down on its own with fluid replacement treatment.
Radiation colitis
Radiotherapy is given as a treatment for cancer patients. Unfortunately, as well as damaging the cancer cells, it can also damage good cells, causing inflammation.
During a radiotherapy course, the patient may get damage to the bowel also. A form called acute radiation proctosigmoiditis affects the sigmoid colon and rectum, and the result is diarrhoea, pain and maybe some blood in the stools. Severe cases don't always resolve themselves, and some need surgery.
Diversion Colitis
In some cases, people have a bowel bypass for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, the bit of bowel that has been excluded from the normal digestion process (bypassed) gets inflamed.
Ischaemic Colitis
Damage to the colon in this case is caused by a lack of decent blood supply to the bowel, and most commonly affects the elderly or people with diseased arteries.
drug and chemical induced colitis
Some drugs and chemical inflame the colon. NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, eg. ibuprofen), soaps, acids, laxatives have all been blamed. The results are usually mild, but have to be watched as they may get worse.
Collagenous colitis
This is a rarer form of colitis and is most prevalent in middle aged and elderly women. It is associated with auto-immune disease which includes some forms of arthritis, thyroid disease, myeaesthenia gravis and coeliac disease (allergy to gluten). Lymphocytic colitis is similar in some ways, and the two are called microscopic colitis collectively.
Pseudomembranous colitis also known as antibiotic associated colitis (AAC)
This is inflammation of the colon as a result of the bacterium clostridium difficile and usually comes after prolonged use of anti-biotics especially lincomycin, clindamycin ( the most troublesome) , amoxycillin, and ampicillin.
Symptoms are diarrhoea (sometime with blood) . The cure is actually more anti-biotics- this time vancomycin or metronidazole. Doctors take AAC very seriously and the worst cases can be fatal.
Thank you so much for sharing that information with me. I would be interested in viewing your website, can you give me the ULR.
A friend has also sent me this (see below) and I thought you would want to see it too.
Thanks again,
BW
FatBoySlim.
~~~~~~~~~~~
'Nongranulomatous Chronic Idiopathic Enterocolitis'
Ruan EA, Komorowski RA, Hogan WJ. Nongranulomatous Chronic Idiopathic
Enterocolitis: Clinicopathologic Profile and Response to
Corticosteroids.
Gastroenterology 1996;111:629-637
In 1996, Ruan et all reported 9 cases of a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, not fitting in into any previously known category, and probably representing a new, primary, not unfrequently fatal disease, where corticosteroid were of benefit. The typical features of this probably very rare
disease are the following:
- severe chronic diarrhea with quite abrupt onset
- no infectious agent identified
- no underlying disease after extensive diagnostic investigations
- inflammation and sometimes superficial ulcerations in the duodenum, colon and rectum
- partial villous atrophy in duodenal biopsies - but no typical
cellular abnormalities of the epithelial layer seen in celiac disease, and no response to gluten-free diet
- inflammatory changes in the colon mucosa, with crypt abscesses, but no granulomas (and no other features typical for Crohn´s disease, such as stenosis or fistulization.
- rapid and dramatic response to corticosteroid therapy, but prolonged therapy often needed.
http://www.gastrolab.net/g4non.htm