Both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis affect the digestive tract and involve over-activity of the immune system and white blood cells behaving in a way which causes an inflammation of the bowel.

White blood cells are usually responsible for fighting infection and removing diseased tissue. In IBD white blood cells can cause healthy tissue to become inflamed and it is this inflamed tissue that becomes frail, prone to bleeding and where ulcers can form. Inflamed tissue cannot work as well as normal tissue and so sufferers report pain and diarrhoea. While both diseases cause ulcers, ulcerative colitis affects the colon (large intestine) exclusively while Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus.

A further distinction between ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease is observable in the onset of the diseases..

Crohn’s sufferers can exhibit symptoms for many years before being diagnosed (see chart below), but as the disease is progressive these can get worse as time goes on. The ulceration in Crohn’s disease is scar-tissue forming, which can prevent the gut digesting food properly. The result of this is that gut contents can become porridge-like. The scars in Crohn’s disease can sometimes cause a blockage which has to be removed surgically in an operation.

The symptoms of ulcerative colitis can vary widely between people and tend to appear periodically throughout a sufferer’s life. Typical symptoms that sufferers will exhibit are diarrhoea with blood, pus and mucus. An occurrence of ulcerative colitis symptoms is known as a ‘flare-up’. Flare-ups of ulcerative colitis can be brought on through stress, diet or can happen without any obvious trigger. Depending on the sufferer, a flare up of UC can result in anything from urgent need of the toilet to being bed-bound.

Distinguishing between Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis

What resources can I find on Atlantichc.com?

The IBD sufferers section of our website provides fact sheets for sufferers of ulcerative colitis, proctitis, Crohn’s disease and pouchitis. Here you will find descriptions of symptoms, how they affect sufferers, and the variety of treatments that are currently available.

Please note that the information on this website is not intended for use as a diagnostic guideline. If you exhibit any of these, or other symptoms we urge you to consult your doctor.

 

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