Archive for the ‘Colitis Causes Articles’ Category

So why did it happen? As with something that is not yet medically proven, many see this as a great chance to dive in and offer “claims”, “cures” and other enticing silver bullets to sufferers. They can be very attractive especially when the symptoms or colitis are at their height.

There is no known medical cure for colitis because there is no proven medical reason why it happens. Yet that does not stop others proclaiming their “breakthrough”. For the most part, what are portrayed as “cures” can merely be seen as a method of reducing particular symptoms that have succeeded for the person making these claims.

The notion that you can be diagnosed with colitis due to stress just does not stack up. Medical research has found that there are many different types of animal models of colitis. You can stress these animals in various ways until they die of stress, and still they do not show any symptoms of colitis.

The key to understanding the role of stress is that we have to separate, in many respects, inflammation of the colon from bowel habits, because ulcerative colitis is a disease of inflammation. For instance, when people are stressed, they are prone to have more bowel movements. That’s normal and is proven medically. We have all recognised that it can be nothing out of the ordinary to get diarrhoea with upset stomachs before what can be a stressful event, such as public speaking. Stress affects our intestines. But it doesn’t cause inflammation. On the other hand, if you have a tendency toward diarrhoea because of the colitis, stress can make the diarrhoea worse, but it doesn’t make the inflammation worse.

This is the exact same thing with diet, too. You may eat something that your stomach and intestine find difficult to accommodate. You may even be allergic to it. This sets off a reaction and diarrhoea is the result. You know what? Cut out that food and your colitis is cured! If only it was that simple. Colitis symptoms may appear because you have provoked the inflammation rather than the diet creating the inflammation. What should be proclaimed is “cut out this food and your colitis symptoms caused by that food will disappear”. I hope you can see that there is a big difference here.

When it comes to diet, don’t just think of your colitis in isolation but your whole health in particular. If you have a diet heavy in fat, processed food, lacking fresh vegetables and fruit, high in sugar etc then you will not be as healthy as someone who has a balanced diet. Does unhealthy diet cause colitis? There is no medical proof to suggest as such but that does not mean you won’t have bowel trouble. A person who has been on an unhealthy diet for years, and with the onset of colitis, then changes to a healthy diet will be doing his overall health a power of good. If the result of a healthy diet is reduced symptoms then that is to be celebrated but don’t fall into the trap thinking that your colitis is cured. The inflammation on the colon is still there, with the ability to wake up and raise its ugly head at any time. It is essential that the colitis sufferer is aware of this and discovers how others manage their daily lives living with colitis to try and ensure that periods of remission are of good continuous health.

When someone gets diagnosed with any medical condition or disease, they will naturally want to know what caused it, why it has happened and if it was something that they had no control over or whether it maybe attributable to perhaps their lifestyle. Unfortunately, the causes of colitis do not fit neatly into any specific category for the simple reason that the medical profession does not have an exact answer.

There are many theories as to the causes and some proclaim to offer a miracle cure by undertaken “easy steps” but the truth of the matter is that there is no know reason why the disease occurs and subsequently, there is no medically acknowledged cure for it. Medications are available to manage the condition for sufferers whether the condition is mild or fierce and such issues as diet can be used to try and reduce the symptoms yet often such actions are seen by some as proven cures.

Take the use of a specially devised colitis diet for example. Some people have been drawn to attractive claims to follow a specific diet by eating such foods and eliminating others and very soon their colitis is “cured”. Yet there is a requirement to ask if the “sufferer” had in fact colitis in the first place. It could well be that they had instead the condition of inflammatory bowel syndrome which can produce symptoms not unlike colitis but in a much milder form and can be controlled by diet. Others who do have colitis and are maybe suffering a mild form, can use a diet involving the avoidance of specific foods that do have a profound effect on bowel activity. The symptoms may reduce or disappear but that does not mean the person is cured of colitis. It merely suggests that the person was intolerant to such specific foods.

Another common misconception is that high levels of stress perhaps over a period of time can be one of the so called causes of colitis. This again jumps to conclusions that are not supported by medical evidence. A period of stress can have many effects on the body and there are many different reactions. Often, a person’s bowel can be a weak point, evidenced by a healthy person having to go to the toilet when in an exceedingly nervous and stressful situation. An attack of colitis can appear during or after a period of high stress but that does not mean stress is the cause. The conditions for colitis may already have developed and a period of stress maybe the trigger for it to appear. 

Whatever the cause or causes of colitis are, and there has been some encouraging medical research undertaken recently, when it does occur it is a very worrying time for the sufferer. The secret to managing the condition is to understand the changes in the bowel and the resultant outcome. One of the great fears of being diagnosed with colitis is the unknown, the thought of what change to life will occur, how one will cope daily and whether the disease will be able to be controlled or whether the person will be at the mercy of it. It is only by using the experience of others that the newly diagnosed patient will be able to live their life without many of these anxieties.