Troubled by abdominal pain and diarrhea for a long time? Experts say you may have this lifelong disease

In daily life, if you often have symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, blood in the stool, and fever, and you don’t get better over and over again, it may be “inflammatory bowel disease” at work. Inflammatory bowel disease, as a lifelong disease, is currently incurable and can only be relieved under the standard treatment of doctors.

Recently, Chief Physician Zhi Min and Deputy Chief Physician Zhang Min of the Department of Gastroenterology, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, visited the Medical Union Media Popular Science Live Broadcasting Room and conducted a lecture on the theme of “Do you often have diarrhea troubles your life? Experts teach you how to deal with inflammatory bowel disease?” The live broadcast answered in detail the questions related to inflammatory bowel disease that netizens were concerned about.

Inflammatory bowel disease is a lifelong disease

According to Director Zhi Min, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) mainly includes two diseases, one is Crohn’s disease and the other is ulcerative colitis.

Crohn’s disease is an inflammation of the intestine that affects any or several segments of the alimentary tract from the mouth to the anus, often resulting in ulcers, transmural inflammation and even perforation . Some patients also have anal fistulas or some extraintestinal manifestations. The extraintestinal manifestations may be different for each person, some are manifested in the skin, some are manifested in the hepatobiliary system, and some are manifested in the eyes.

Ulcerative colitis mainly occurs in the large intestine, which is a disease that begins above the rectum and may involve the entire colon. Lesions tend to spread upward from the rectum, mainly in the colon.

Ulcerative colitis differs from Crohn’s disease a little bit apart from the location of the lesions. Ulcerative colitis is mainly in the mucosa and submucosa, and the lesions are relatively shallow. In Crohn’s disease, the lesions are relatively deep, and the entire intestinal wall may be invaded, resulting in penetrating changes, and obstruction may occur for a long time.

“Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are both chronic and lifelong diseases, but there is no need to panic. As long as they can be controlled by standard medication for a long time, they will coexist with them. It will affect normal work and life.” Director Zhi Min said.

The disease may be genetically related

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are collectively referred to as inflammatory bowel disease because they share similar clinical symptoms.

Director Zhi Min said: “The most common clinical manifestations are diarrhea, frequent stools, blood in the stool, weight loss, weight loss, and fever. Depending on the disease and severity, there may be different Symptoms. For example, in patients with Crohn’s disease whose lesions are in the small intestine, abdominal pain and weight loss may be more obvious.”

Actually, the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease is not yet very clear, and it may be related to genetics, environmental factors and autoimmunity.

Dr. Zhang Min pointed out that on the basis of genetic factors and the influence of the environment, the intestinal tract is over-immunized, which leads to inflammation, and the intestinal tract will appear congestion and edema. The clinical symptoms are abdominal pain, Blood in the stool, stricture, etc. Environmental factors, including dietary changes and changes in living environment, may affect changes in the gut microbiome and gut microbiota.

“Inflammatory bowel disease may be related to genetic factors, but it is not a single-gene genetic disease, and the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in children with inflammatory bowel disease and the general population is similar .”

Most patients require long-term medication

Currently there are many drugs for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, but the choice is also very particular. Director Zhi Min pointed out that the current treatment drugs are actually divided into several categories:

The first class of drugs is 5-aminosalicylic acid drugs, such as sulfasalazine, mesalazine, etc., mainly used for ulcerative colitis and very early Crohn’s disease .

The second category is glucocorticoid drugs, generally used for active Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, but it can only be used to control the activity of the disease, generally used About three months, it is not suitable for long-term use. Long-term use can have serious side effects, including osteoporosis, cataracts, and high blood pressure.

Dr. Zhang Min said, “There are also immunologic agents, including azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine, methotrexate, thalidomide, cyclosporine, etc. Immune agents. When Crohn’s disease is active, it can be superimposed with hormonal drugs and maintained with immune preparations after hormone withdrawal. Immune preparations have side effects such as leukopenia and liver function damage, and need to be used under the supervision and guidance of doctors.”

Most patients with inflammatory bowel disease require long-term medication, but the choice of medication needs to be individualized, taking into account disease conditions, individual factors and economic conditions. In addition, it is very important to conduct regular follow-up examinations according to chronic disease management, which can detect changes in the disease early and adjust the drugs for treatment in time.

[Reporter] Ou Xujiang

【Author】 Ou Xujiang

Healthy Life Circle