What is Colitis?

Can anyone tell me what exactly is Crohns desease and Colitis? Are they one
and the same thing, if not, is there a relationship between these two
conditions?

I know someone who passed away recently and colitis was one of a number of
deadly complications she had. Can colitis or Crohns cause death? I await
your response. Thank you!

Most people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease seem to have one of two
"flavors": 1) Crohn's Disease, or 2) Ulcerative Colitis (which many people
refer to as simply "colitis").

While Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are very similar, they aren't
identical diseases. Ulcerative Colitis tends to stay confined to the large
intestine or colon. If symptoms warrant, the removal of the colon in these
persons is usually considered as a "cure", although this operation leaves
the patient with an ostomy of some sort (there are some variations).
Crohn's Disease is usually viewed as a disease that can occur at any point
in the gastrointestinal tract, including the mouth and the stomach. And,
while people with Crohn's Disease often have ulcerations in the lining of
the intestine, they often go beyond the mucosal layer and may show up on an
x-ray as a lesion that involves the entire thickness of the intestine.
Since inflammation penetrates the intestinal lining it may give rise to
openings between the bowel and other structures; these openings are called
fistulas.

Also, a person may develop what physicians call "colitis" from a number of
factors, including drug reactions, food poisoning, etc.

Any person with eather ulcerative colitis or Crohn's Disease can, given the
right circumstances, develop complications from the disease process
(including obstructions and perforations) that may present a threat to their
life. Even with this possibility, the majority of people with Inflammatory
Bowel Disease have a normal life expectancy.

I hope I answered your questions. If not, email me and I'll clarify. Also,
many other readers of this newsgroup can either augment or correct what I've
said (I have Crohn's Disease and realize that every individuals experience
is very unique, so I'm looking forward to some of the other replies to your
question).

The frequent toilet trips are a real pain in the "gut", huh. The thing that
surprised me was when it seemed that all of a sudden arthritis developed in
my hip. I always thought it was a disease of the elderly and freaked a
little fearing my body was seriously giving out on me. Had halved my dosage
of sulfasalazine (not smart) and after seeing the next set of bad xrays
(more strictures) went back to full dosage. Believe it or not the pain in
my hip that was sometimes rather crippling has gone almost completely away.
I guess the sulf.. helped with that. Weird, but welcome. Goodluck with
yours.