Ulcerative colitis -An overview

[gmohan]

ulcerative colitis is typically diagnosed in a variety of manners. There are a lot of testing that we could potentially utilize. And so, we have blood work similar to the general inflammatory bowel disease patient.
Your elevation in your inflammatory markers that commonly use theirhat commonly use their C-reactive protein, ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and you have secondary inflammatory markers so to speak. The elevated white blood cell count, platelet count, and then decreased hemoglobin hematocrit, those can be potentially used. Or, developing a target that's being investigated and supported by a lot of organizations that have looked at response to therapies, etc, the fecal calprotectin, which is a very sensitive marker for inflammation and can be used to discern inflammatory diarrhea pretty significantly and has some prognostic value, research has shown, in ulcerative colitis. High values being bad and low values being good.

Typically, at that nice cut off range about typically 250 or so, many people use for the fecal calprotectin.

Diagnosis of UC

So, patients with ulcerative colitis are typically diagnosed in their youth. But, interestingly enough, there is a second peak in patients in their fifties and sixties where they get diagnosed little later in life. Personally, I've felt that some of these patients after their certain lifestyle changes. They may have changed things or turned their inflammatory disease on through some other physiologic stress or smoking cessation, et cetera. And so, we see this pretty commonly.

Etiology of UC

In terms of factors that would increase your likelihood to develop ulcerative colitis, some have had demonstrated chronic or recurrent infections that have been propagated and developed this. And, while there is a genetic component to this, it's not the entire story, as there is genetic and environmental contributors and behavioral contributors, smoking being a big one here, which can be mildly protective in ulcerative colitis, and even earlier antimicrobial use, and even potentially more stress to the system.

G Mohan.