Ulcerative colitis
UCUlcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that causes continuous inflammation and ulcers in the inner lining of the colon and rectum.
Symptoms include diarrhea that is often bloody, abdominal cramping, urgency, fatigue and weight loss, typically following a course of flares and remissions. Inflammation always involves the rectum and extends upward to varying lengths of the colon. The disease usually begins between fifteen and thirty-five, affects men and women equally, and is thought to arise from an abnormal immune response to gut bacteria in genetically susceptible people. It is distinct from Crohn's disease, which can affect any part of the digestive tract in patches.
Gastroenterologists diagnose it by colonoscopy with biopsies, supported by blood and stool tests to gauge inflammation and exclude infection. Long-term monitoring includes surveillance for colon cancer. Cannabinoids have been studied in inflammatory bowel disease in small trials, with reported effects on symptoms but not on measured inflammation, and there is no approved use.