Bloody diarrhea is a sign of inflammation that devastates the intestines of young people

Now, answer: in addition to the psychological stress, who wouldn’t feel physical fatigue if they lived with a stomach ache, without absorbing nutrients properly and running the risk of, because of the bleeding, having anemia? “The impact of this condition is, in fact, terrible: 65% of patients say that it is the one in charge of their lives”, says digestive system surgeon and coloproctologist Rogério Saad, professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Unesp (Universidade Estadual Paulista ), in Botucatu.

He is talking about ulcerative colitis, an incurable inflammatory bowel disease that, if not well controlled, takes away focus from studies or work, harms social life and even steals your night’s sleep. After all, no one sleeps well if they have a bout of diarrhea.

When to see a specialist

Sometimes, colitis even leaves the body feverish. “When the crisis seems strong, the person tends to run to the emergency room. Only, when they get there, they are able to hear that they ate something that hurt them or that they have some kind of virus”, notes the professor. He takes the opportunity to give the message straight away: “If, when you have a bowel movement, you see blood or mucus and you realize that you have had chronic diarrhea for more than four weeks — which goes away and, after a short period of calm down, come back —, your case needs to be investigated. The right thing to do is to make an appointment with a general practitioner or a coloproctologist or even a gastroenterologist”, he advises.

Because, if colitis progresses too far, the likelihood of complications increases, capable of creating the need for surgery to resect the inflamed portion of the colon or rectum. Not to mention that, in theory, the longer the period without any effective treatment, the greater the risk of the individual, later on, being surprised by another unpleasant diagnosis: bowel cancer.

The difference between Crohn’s disease and colitis

For almost half of his more than 25-year career, Rogério Saad dedicated himself to operating on intestinal tumors and problems such as hemorrhoids. Until a colleague, a professor of Gastroenterology, invited him to participate in a group that discussed inflammatory diseases. And they became his passion.