Family History

[canteacher]

Hi, I am a 28 year old female who is showing signs of tiredness, bloating, tenderness in the lower area of my stomach, gas, diaherra alternating with soft stools (brownish-yellow in colour and large amount) and the urgent need to go to the bathroom sometimes immediately up to an hour after eating. I have finally gotten so fed up with flare ups of my nervous stomach (I have had milder bouts since I was in my teens) that I have a doctor's appointment on Friday morning to try to figure out what is going on. There is a family history of Crohn's disease and colitis on my mother's side of the family. My grandmother, aunt, and mother show signs of colitis. My grandmother has actually been diagnosed with it. A cousin (my aunt's son) has Crohn's disease. Can bowel disorders run genetically in families? How do they treat colitis if that is what it is?

[boron]

It is a predisposition for inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis) which may be genetically transfered, not the disease itself.

Lower GI (x-ray with barium enema), colonoscopy, stool test for occult blood and fat, and blood test for specific antibodies are the usual tests.