What is Arthritis?
Arthritis is referred to as any disorder that affects the joints through joint inflammation.
It causes stiffness, swelling, and pain in the joints which makes it painful to move around.
Joints are places in the body where the two bones meet.
What is Ulcerative colitis (UC)?
Ulcerative colitis is one of the two types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
It is referred to as a long-term condition where the rectum and the colon stay inflamed.
The colon is the longest part of the large intestine, and the rectum is the ending area of the large intestine where the stool is stored.
UC can also cause Ulcers in the digestive tract.
Some of the complications of Ulcerative Colitis include fever, abdominal cramping, severe rectal bleeding, severe dehydration, rapidly swelling colon, and weight loss.
UC has no known cure and aggravated symptoms can result in life-threatening conditions.
However, appropriate treatment can alleviate symptoms of UC and result in long-term remission of the disease.
What is the relationship between Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Arthritis?
Although UC mainly affects the large intestine, it is deduced that it affects other body parts as well.
The most common influence on patients with UC is arthritis, however, it is not easy to determine if arthritis in a patient is due to UC.
Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis that is due to Ulcerative Colitis is not that severe. The joints do not usually go through destructive changes and joint involvement is unsymmetric.
Except for one form of arthritis which is Ankylosing spondylitis (discussed later), it is concluded through the studies that the arthritis symptoms subside if the patients get appropriate treatment for UC.
Arthritis associated with Ulcerative Colitis is categorized into three categories:
- Peripheral arthritis
- Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA)
- Ankylosing spondylitis
Out of the above-mentioned arthritis, Peripheral Arthritis is the one that is mostly found in UC patients with a 19.6% assurance rate.
It is also observed that patients of UC have a different experience of arthritis pain compared with those who do not have UC.
Patients with UC develop arthritis at a younger age but most do not have joint damage that is long-term or lifelong.
Peripheral arthritis affects arms, legs, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles. The pain usually moves from one joint to the other.
As stated above it is the most common form of joint pain that occurs in UC patients.
The level of joint inflammation generally corresponds with the extent the colon is inflamed.
The symptoms of peripheral arthritis mostly subside and even disappear as the UC symptoms get controlled.
Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA)
This form of arthritis causes pain in the sacroiliac joints and the lower spine.
The joint pain through Spondylitis appears months or sometimes even years before the patient experiences any UC symptoms.
This type of arthritis can result in the fusion of parts of the spine, leading to the reduction of a person’s range of motion.
Ankylosing spondylitis is a rare complication of UC. It causes inflammation in sacroiliac joints and the spine but can affect the heart valves, eyes, and lungs. It is a severe form of Axial spondyloarthritis.
If a person has Ankylosing spondylitis, it can cause long-term damage and the patient may require getting the colon removed surgically.
This type of arthritis affects the patient’s flexibility by making the back stiff and forcing the patient into a permanently distorted posture.
The effects of this type of arthritis don’t subside or reverse if the patient receives treatment for UC.
People with genetically occurring Urinary tract infection and a predisposition to bowel tends to develop Ankylosing spondylitis.
This usually appears in the early 30 years of life.
How to treat arthritis in patients with UC
A rheumatologist can most efficiently diagnose arthritis in UC patients.
Arthritis patients, who do not have UC, are usually prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen or aspirin.
However, if this patient has UC sy