Overview

Ulcerative colitis (UL-sur-uh-tiv koe-LIE-tis) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes inflammation and ulcers (sores) in your digestive tract. Ulcerative colitis affects the innermost lining of your large intestine, also called the colon, and rectum. In most people, symptoms usually develop over time, rather than suddenly.

Ulcerative colitis can be draining and can sometimes lead to life-threatening complications. While it has no known cure, there are several new treatments that can greatly reduce signs and symptoms of the disease and bring about long-term remission.

Symptoms

Ulcerative colitis symptoms can vary, depending on the severity of inflammation and where it occurs. Signs and symptoms may include:

  • Diarrhea, often with blood or pus
  • Rectal bleeding — passing small amount of blood with stool
  • Abdominal pain and cramping
  • Rectal pain
  • Urgency to defecate
  • Inability to defecate despite urgency
  • Weight loss
  • Fatigue
  • Fever
  • In children, failure to grow

Most people with ulcerative colitis have mild to moderate symptoms. The course of ulcerative colitis may vary, with some people having long periods when it goes away. This is called remission.

Types

Health care providers often classify ulcerative colitis according to its location. Symptoms of each type often overlap. Types of ulcerative colitis include:

  • Ulcerative proctitis. Inflammation is confined to the area closest to the anus, also called the rectum. Rectal bleeding may be the only sign of the disease.
  • Proctosigmoiditis. Inflammation involves the rectum and sigmoid colon — the lower end of the colon. Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps and pain, and an inability to move the bowels despite the urge to do so. This is called tenesmus.
  • Left-sided colitis. Inflammation extends from the rectum up through the sigmoid and descending portions of the colon. Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and pain on the left side, and urgency to defecate.
  • Pancolitis. This type often affects the entire colon and causes bouts of bloody diarrhea that may be severe, abdominal cramps and pain, fatigue, and significant weight loss.

When to see a doctor

See your health care provider if you experience a persistent change in your bowel habits or if you have signs and symptoms such as:

  • Abdominal pain
  • Blood in your stool
  • Ongoing diarrhea that doesn't respond to nonprescription medications
  • Diarrhea that awakens you from sleep
  • An unexplained fever lasting more than a day or two

Although ulcerative colitis usually isn't fatal, it's a serious disease. In some cases, ulcerative colitis may cause life-threatening complications.

Causes

The exact cause of ulcerative colitis remains unknown. Previously, diet and stress were suspected. However, researchers now know that these factors may aggravate but don't cause ulcerative colitis.

One possible cause is an immune system malfunction. When your immune system tries to fight off an invading virus or bacterium, an irregular immune response causes the immune system to attack the cells in the digestive tract, too.

Heredity also seems to play a role in that ulcerative colitis is more common in people who have family members with the disease. However, most people with ulcerative colitis don't have this family history.

Risk factors

Ulcerative colitis affects about the same number of women and men. Risk factors may include:

  • Age. Ulcerative colitis usually begins before the age of 30, but it can occur at any age. Some people may not develop the disease until after age 60.
  • Race or ethnicity. Although white people have the highest risk of the disease, it can occur in any race. If you're of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, your risk is even higher.
  • Family history. You're at higher risk if you have a close relative, such as a parent, sibling or child, with the disease.

Complications

Possible complications of ulcerative colitis include:

  • Severe bleeding
  • Severe dehydration
  • A rapidly swelling colon, also called a toxic megacolon
  • A hole in the colon, also called a perforated colon
  • Increased risk of blood clots in veins and arteries
  • Inflammation of the skin, joints and eyes
  • An increased risk of colon cancer
  • Bone loss, also called osteoporosis
By Mayo Clinic Staff