Pseudomembranous colitis is a form of inflammatory colitis characterized by the pathologic presence of pseudomembranes consisting of mucin, fibrin, necrotic cells, and polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Bacterial colitis is the most common cause of colitis, particularly beyond the first year of life. Allergic colitis is the most common form of colitis during the first year of life. Collagenous colitis and lymphocytic colitis are two other types of bowel inflammation that affect the colon.
A diagnosis of collagenous colitis or lymphocytic colitis is made after tissue samples taken during a colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy are examined with a microscope. Collagenous colitis and lymphocytic colitis are also called microscopic colitis. Ulcerative colitis is not caused by emotional distress or sensitivity to certain foods or food products, but these factors may trigger symptoms in some people.
For extreme cases of collagenous colitis and lymphocytic colitis that have not responded to medication, surgery to remove all or part of the colon may be necessary.
Ulcerative colitis can occur in people of any age, but it usually starts between the ages of 15 and 30, and less frequently between 50 and 70 years of age. Colitis is an inflammation of the colon. Ulcerative colitis may also cause problems such as arthritis, inflammation of the eye, liver disease, and osteoporosis. Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes inflammation and sores, called ulcers, in the lining of the rectum and colon. Ulcerative colitis is not caused by emotional distress or sensitivity to certain foods or food products, but these factors may trigger symptoms in some people. Ulcerative colitis can occur in people of any age, but it usually starts between the ages of 15 and 30, and less frequently between 50 and 70 years of age.
Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes inflammation and sores, called ulcers, in the lining of the rectum and colon. Ulcerative colitis may also cause problems such as arthritis, inflammation of the eye, liver disease, and osteoporosis. Ischemic colitis is a form of vasculitis that results from inflammation and ischemia of colonic mucosa, which causes rectal bleeding and abdominal pain. Treatment for collagenous colitis and lymphocytic colitis varies depending on the symptoms and severity of the case. People with ulcerative colitis have abnormalities of the immune system, but doctors do not know whether these abnormalities are a cause or a result of the disease. Pseudomembranous colitis usually presents with profuse watery or mucoid diarrhea, tenesmus, fever, abdominal cramps, and tenderness usually within one week of antibiotic therapy.
