Inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term mainly used to describe two conditions, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.
Both Ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease are long-term (chronic) conditions that involve inflammation of the gut (gastrointestinal tract).
Ulcerative colitis only affects the colon (large intestine), while Crohns disease can affect all of the digestive system, from the mouth to the anus.
Its sometimes difficult to tell the difference between the two main types of IBD. If this is the case, its known as indeterminate colitis.
There are other, less common types of IBD called collagenous colitis and lymphocytic colitis. The inflammation can only be seen using a microscope, and so theyre known as microscopic colitis.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is not a single disease. IBD is a term mainly used to describe two conditions, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
The main symptoms of ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease are similar. They include: pain, swelling or cramping in the tummy recurring or bloody diarrhoea weight loss extreme tiredness Not ev
Crohn's and Colitis UK: Inflammatory Bowel Disease Core: About Crohn's disease (PDF, 795kb) Core: About ulcerative colitis? (PDF, 1.25Mb)
IBD is not the same as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) , which is a common condition that causes symptoms such as: constipation diarrhoea abdominal pain