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Crohn’s Disease vs. Ulcerative Colitis: Exploring Similarities and Differences

Submitted by sjukunte on Wed, 11/02/2022 - 01:43

If you are suffering from a gastrointestinal (GI) problem for a very long time, it may be Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis (UC). They are both inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that sometimes affect together to many people. You may experience stomach pain and cramps for weeks, a sudden urge to rush to the bathroom, and unexplained weight loss. It can be confusing that you are suffering from either Crohn’s disease or UC, as both of them share a lot of symptoms, including inflammation in the digestive system.
Similarities 
Let us know about some of the shared symptoms between these two IBD conditions.

  • The person may experience cramps and pain in the stomach along with inflammation in the digestive tract for a very long time.
  • Diarrhea is another common symptom that occurs in both conditions.
  • The person may feel an urgent need to have a bowel movement but always gets the feeling that it is still incomplete. 
  • Rectal bleeding
  • Unexplained fever, weight loss, and loss of appetite.
  • Irregular menstrual cycle. 

The person might not have all of these above symptoms, but the condition keeps fluctuating between flares and remission. A flare is a condition when the symptoms get worse, whereas when a person feels relieved and some of the symptoms stop, it is called remission. It has been observed that both diseases often develop in teenagers and young adults, but the diseases can occur at any age. It affects men and women equally. The exact cause of both these diseases is still unknown, but some of the factors like environmental response, genetics, and inappropriate behavior of the immune system can contribute to the development of these diseases. 
Differences
The key differences between Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are:

  • Symptoms

It can only be determined by your healthcare provider whether you are suffering from Crohn’s disease or UC as both of them share so many symptoms. But one of the key differences between the symptoms of both of them is that UC affects only the large intestine, whereas Crohn’s disease can affect all the areas between the mouth and the anus. A person with UC may also experience rectal bleeding and blood in the stool more often than with Crohn’s disease. Some of the other unique symptoms of Crohn’s disease are ulcers, mouth sores, anal tears, etc. All you have to do is closely observe the symptoms and contact your GI specialist. 

  • Inflammation Severity 

In both conditions, the person may observe inflammation in the GI tract. But there is a key difference that is, in ulcerative colitis, the inflammation is restricted to the colon and the person may experience it continuously in that area, while in Crohn’s disease, the inflammation can involve the entire gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus. Also, in Crohn’s disease, the person often has some healthy areas in between the inflamed spots, which are not in UC.

  • Affected Areas or Layers

UC affects only the innermost lining of the colon, whereas, in the case of Crohn’s disease, all the layers of the bowel walls get affected. It has been observed that Crohn’s disease can be more problematic than ulcerative colitis.