Guide To The Most Common Autoimmune Diseases

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease is a term used to describe a group of disorders that cause chronic inflammation of the digestive tract and organs. There are a few types of inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Inflammatory bowel disease occurs when a trigger of some sort causes the affected individual's immune system to become confused and inappropriately produce antibodies programmed to destroy healthy intestinal tissues. Both forms of inflammatory bowel disease cause fatigue, diarrhea, weight loss, cramping, blood in the stool, reduced appetite, fever, abdominal cramping, and abdominal pain. Such symptoms may vary depending on the extent, location, and severity of the inflammation in the digestive tract. Diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease is made with blood and fecal occult blood tests, as well as a colonoscopy, intestinal tissue biopsy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, upper endoscopy, capsule endoscopy, and balloon-assisted enteroscopy.