colitis

inflammation of the COLON , the symptoms of which include abdominal pain and diarrhoea, sometimes bloodstained. Ulcerative colitis tends to affect young adults and usually occurs periodically over a number of years. There is abdominal discomfort, fever, frequent watery diarrhoea containing mucus and blood, and anaemia. The condition can be fatal but usually there is a gradual recovery. Treatment is by means of bed rest, drug treatment with corticosteroids and iron supplements, and a bland, low roughage diet. Colitis may be the result of infections caused by the organism Entamoeba histolytica (amoebic colitis) and by bacteria (infective colitis). It may also occur in CROHN'S DISEASE .