Patients suffering from ulcerative colitis often have the same painful experience: the disease is difficult to heal and life is tormented! Some people, who have been suffering from the disease for more than a decade, are unable to get rid of it! Why is a small intestinal infection so difficult to deal with?
A. Strange: a disease that rests
Ulcerative colitis, simply put, is a chronic non-specific inflammatory disease of the colon.
The lumen of our colon canal is divided into four layers from the inside out: mucosal layer, submucosal layer, muscular layer and plasma layer, and the annoying ulcerative colitis lesions mainly occur in the mucosal and submucosal layers of the colon.
Patients mostly have intestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea, mucopurulent stools, abdominal pain and urgency, and some also have abdominal distension, poor appetite, nausea, vomiting, perianal abscess and anal fistula.
In addition, about 10% of patients may have extra-intestinal symptoms: joint pain, recurrent oral ulcers, subcutaneous nodular erythema, cholangitis and chronic hepatitis. Some patients with severe disease may even develop systemic symptoms: fever, rapid heart rate, emaciation, anemia, etc.
It is often said that “people are susceptible to diseases when they are old”, but ulcerative colitis is mostly seen in young adults, especially those aged 20 to 40; moreover, the disease history alternates between onset and remission, just like the human body alternates between work and rest, therefore, in Chinese medicine, it also has “long dysentery Therefore, in Chinese medicine, it is also known as “long dysentery” or “rest dysentery”.
Second, alert: possible cancerous disease
The cause of ulcerative colitis is not yet completely clear, and is thought to be related to infectious factors, genetic factors, autoimmune decline, mental stress and fatigue, cold, eating disorders and allergies, and the condition is often recurrent and difficult to cure, and is recognized as one of the difficult to treat diseases at home and abroad.
It is worth mentioning that ulcerative colitis is one of the causes of colorectal cancer. According to research, the cancer rate of foreigners with a history of ulcerative colitis for more than 10 years is about 5% to 10%, while the domestic rate is lower, about 1% to 3%. Currently, it is believed that the following cases are more likely to become cancerous.
①People who started to develop the disease before 20 years old;
(2) Those who have a history of more than 10 years;
(iii) those with heavy and extensive lesions involving the whole colon;
④Patients with moderate or severe hyperplasia on pathological biopsy.
Therefore, early examination and timely treatment are very important. Among them, colonoscopy is recognized as the preferred method for diagnosing ulcerative colitis because of its obvious advantages such as safety and accuracy.
Through colonoscopy, doctors can clearly understand the severity of inflammation and the extent of lesions in the colon, and rule out other major diseases such as colorectal cancer, and if necessary, biopsy can be performed under the microscope to confirm the diagnosis. In addition, doctors can even treat large bleeding lesions with drugs or argon gas sprays under the microscope.
Third, support: Chinese herbal enema, the effect is good
Since this disease is so difficult to treat and may become cancerous, how should patients cope with it?
In general, once ulcerative colitis is diagnosed, patients should be treated “early, actively and comprehensively”.
According to the condition, on the basis of TCM treatment, drugs such as salazosulfapyridine, mesalazine, Edexcel and adrenal corticosteroids can be used appropriately. At present, it is found that the combination of Chinese and Western medicine, internal and external (retention of enema) treatment, the efficacy is better.
At the same time, in order to improve and consolidate the therapeutic effect, patients should also pay attention to the appropriate food rich in nutrition, fresh and easy to digest, avoid spicy and stimulating or cold food, milk, bamboo shoots, kelp, cuttlefish, squid, pickled products (salted fish, sauerkraut), etc..
It should also be emphasized that patients should maintain optimism, eliminate stress, and participate in appropriate physical activities to improve their own immune level, which can help promote the early recovery of ulcerative colitis.