Inflammatory Bowel Disease (or IBD for short) – this is a name of a group of disorders that cause your intestines to be inflamed…red and swollen. How common is this disease? VERY VERY common I must say. Just in case you are unaware, it could last a very long time and the symptoms come back over and over again.
Here’s a fact: every single year, well over 600,000 Americans suffer from some kind of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. That’s a lot in anyone’s book!
Inflammatory Bowel Disease – The Disease’s Tell Tale Signs
If you are suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Disease, you could have abdominal pain as well as cramps coupled with diarrhea, weight loss, an bleeding in your intestinal tract.
You see, there are two typed of Inflammatory Bowel Disease – first, there is Crohn’s Disease, then there is Ulcerative Colitis.
Crohn’s Disease – This disease usually results to ulcers – these are open sores found along the length of your digestive system’s small as well as large intestines. Usually, this Inflammatory Bowel Disease spares the rectum or it causes inflammation and infection with drainage around the rectum.
On the other hand, Ulcerative Colitis causes open sores or ulcerations in the lower section of your large intestine and oftentimes, it starts at the rectum.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease – The Roots
As for the exact causes and reasons why a person is inflicted with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, unfortunately, they are unknown. HOWEVER, it is strongly believed that they are caused by a germ, a problem at the immune system, or an imbalance between good and bad bacteria at the gastro intestinal tract.
As for being contagious, worry NOT. Your family members won’t catch the disease from you. It cannot be spread. HOWEVER, evidence shows that it runs in the family. YES, Inflammatory Bowel Disease can be hereditary.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease -Treating It And Fighting Back Against It
The best thing to do when suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Disease? Simple – take good care of yourself! It’s very crucial that you eat a balanced and healthy diet.
Depending on the symptoms your are suffering from and its intensity, your physician may need to ask you to cut down the amount of fiber and dairy from your diet. Along with eating a balanced and healthy meal, you may also need to take probiotic supplements.
Probiotic supplements that are oozing with good and beneficial bacteria help greatly in boosting up the immune system, fighting the bad micro organisms in your digestive system and restore its balance, relieve sores, and those are just to name a few.
Most probably, you may face a team of doctors. A family physician, gastroenterologist (who is an expert in stomach as well as intestinal disorders), and when things get worse, a surgeon may also be needed.
So what is the goal of the treatment?
That is to get rid of the inflammation. There are many types of medicine that could tone down and reduce inflammation – drugs like sulfasalazine, immune system suppressors, and those are just to name a few. HOWEVER, many of these medicines have side effects. Antibiotics, for one thing, will eliminate everything in it’s path – good bacteria included. That’s why it is highly recommended that you take probiotics to replenish the amount of good and beneficial bacteria in your body. Having their numbers withered down could lead to other disorders you don’t want even a bit of!