The doctor told about inflammatory bowel diseases

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, are chronic immune-inflammatory pathologies affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Oleg Knyazev, chief freelance gastroenterologist at the Moscow City Department of Health, told Izvestia on May 24.

"Ulcerative colitis affects the colon with damage to the mucous membrane and partially to the submucosa. Crohn's disease, in turn, affects the entire gastrointestinal tract - from the oral cavity to the rectum, most often the ileum, colon and jejunum," the specialist explained.

According to him, the symptoms of IBD are diverse: diarrhea (sometimes with blood and mucus), abdominal pain, weight loss, weakness and subfebrile fever. In addition, extra—intestinal manifestations are possible - arthritis, skin rashes, eye and lung lesions.

IBD is most often detected in people aged 20-40, but in recent years the disease has been increasingly detected in patients over 65. The exact causes of the pathology are unknown, but genetics, ecology, nutrition, and the state of the microbiota play a key role.

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"We cannot prevent IBD, but secondary prevention helps to avoid exacerbations. It is important for patients to follow the recommendations, take therapy and be regularly monitored by a doctor," the gastroenterologist emphasized.

He also drew attention to the problem of late diagnosis: in Russia, ulcerative colitis is detected on average in 6-12 months, and Crohn's disease in 4 years.

"Don't ignore the symptoms and don't self-medicate. Modern therapy, including biologics, makes it possible to achieve remission and maintain the quality of life," summed up Knyazev.

On May 14, Cyril Lakhmai, a cardiovascular surgeon at SM Clinic, told Izvestia about the causes of blood clots and the possibilities to correctly recognize this dangerous pathology. He clarified that red blood clots are the culprits of such common diseases as varicose veins and thrombophlebitis, which cause inflammatory processes in blood vessels and their deformation.