The Rectum and Ulcerative Colitis

The rectum was my only bit that did not respond to the diets. But interesting enough I was put on an antibiotic called Erthromycin to clear food poisoning and now my rectum has no symptoms. Could be bacteria, but I won’t know what is going to happen when I am off the pred.

Right up my alley,glad you asked.

Mucus layer is thinnest,bacterial load highest,blood flow lowest,protein fermentation increases distally,mechanical forces high,bacterial composition and distribution in the distall colon now changed from too much protein in the colon,extra protease,digestive protease not being deactivated, not eating enough resistant starch, throw in some epigenitics. Plus too many carbs sugar/,insulin spikes/resistance, causing inbalance is FAS not making enough mucus,and neurotransmitter imbalance. Mucus is breached,bacteria presented to immune cells,immune cascade starts. Many other possible reasons.

Why immune cascade does not shut off,see above cycle,plus I guess many other reasons.

Been preaching this for a long time.

Old Mike

go here and then go to the right and click on see all

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22121108

the first link here was the complete paper but not anymore.

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2409702

more threads on this subject

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2670434

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2690421

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2709611

 

Post Edited (Old Mike) : 4/28/2013 6:51:03 AM (GMT-6)

My rectum had a very stubborn ulcer, about the size of a quarter. Small, yes, but furious and after 2 years of no remission I opted for surgery. That small spot had me vomiting, lots of blood loss, fevers, and ultimately resulted in anemia and B-12 loss. It's still shocking to me that something so small resulted in radical surgery.

Sue

There is a theory which led into a study in Heidelberg, Germany about the mucus layer in the colon. They say that the layer gets thinner and thinner the further down it goes. Hence the recum is the least protected. So they invented a lecithin capsule which releases in the colon and protects the mucus layer in the colon. A lot of patients had success with it. Why it is not released on the market yet, I'm not sure.

All my issues are in my rectum. Nothing but high doses of pred. will touch it. Very frustrating!

Bad sent you an email to your posted address.
OM

I'm probably just over simplifying part of what Old Mike said but the fact that stool spends a lot of time just sitting in the rectum, rather than passing through, also increases the chance of experiencing symptoms there. Like everything else about UC the great paradox is that often removing the flow of stool from an area (e.g. with an ostomy) will cause spontaneous remission... but you can also have diversionary proctitis caused by NOT having a flow of stool (which also provides nutrients to the mucosal layer). Humorously enough I have now experienced both phenomena...

I had pancolitis and found it much easier to manage the proctitis, mainly because I could, pardon the phrase, stuff a buttload of topical steroids into my rectum in the form of Cortifoam, which has very minimal systemic absorption. I never achieved remission but with daily Cortifoam I was able to get the rectal inflammation down to "mild", a level of inflammation that was never seen in the rest of my colon during any scopes.

Andrina said...
There is a theory which led into a study in Heidelberg, Germany about the mucus layer in the colon. They say that the layer gets thinner and thinner the further down it goes. Hence the recum is the least protected. So they invented a lecithin capsule which releases in the colon and protects the mucus layer in the colon. A lot of patients had success with it. Why it is not released on the market yet, I'm not sure.

because we are still in caveman medicine. Some people may think the US is up on the latest medical advances, but we are far from it. We also have to recognize that we live in a country that just seeks to "manage symptoms". Think about how wrong that is... Never getting to the root issue and just quieting the symptoms with drugs. I've pretty much had it here. Fed up!

I'd love to read about that study. Do you remember where you came across it?

I'm glad I found this thread, it's been helpful and I learned a bit too. I had no idea the rectum was the hardest part of the colon to heal. I worry about my health, as I have been bleeding chronically for years now.. I know our body is a tough machine to kill, but the continual inflammation just is not good. The last time I went and had a colonoscopy (around last year at this time) my GI doctor told me to follow up with my surgeon to take a closer look at part of the anal canal that appeared to look different. He called it anal intraepithelial neoplasia. There's not a lot of information online that I can read to educate myself about this. I ended up having surgery and my surgeon removed the cells, but that really hasn't reduced the bleeding at all. I am slowly getting better, but I sometimes hit a wall where i feel like I'm in a stand still. Researching and learning gives me hope, but with this particular area, there isn't much out there. Anyone have any suggestions or have similar issue?

i feel like i should be doing something more proactive, but not sure what... Any advice is appreciated.