Inflammatory bowel disease symptoms

Inflammatory bowel disease symptoms are variable, affecting tissues outside digestive system and having an important mark on person’s self esteem; many times patients suffering from this disease are very depressive and unable to perform their activities. When we mention inflammatory bowel disease symptoms we have in mind Chron disease and ulcerative colitis.

Inflammatory bowel disease symptoms list

Inflammatory bowel disease symptoms are represented by digestive symptoms and non-digestive symptoms:

•  diarrhea is the most frequent and annoying symptom among the inflammatory bowel disease symptoms; some patients may have numerous watery stools,
• constipation: this is an often symptom in rectitis, (patients with ulcerative colitis complain of constipation, because this disease affects the rectum at the onset),
• abdominal pain- it is one of the frequent inflammatory bowel disease symptoms, it can be diffuse, or located in the iliac fossa (Chron disease affects, more frequently, the terminal ileum, which is the most distant part of the small intestine, located in the right iliac fossa, while ulcerative colitis affects rectum in most of the cases),
• stool with blood-it is a common finding among inflammatory bowel disease symptoms,
• weigh loss because of the diarrhea, which stops the intestine to absorb nutrients,
• fever, it is the response of the body to the inflammation of the intestine,
• abnormal communication among different parts of the intestine, or among intestine and urinary bladder or vagina (in medical practice this condition is called fistula),
• intestine stenosis (it is one of the inflammatory bowel disease symptoms known as Chron disease)-meaning a narrowing of the intestine lumen,
• blood cells abnormalities: anemia (low number of red blood cells and hemoglobin), a large number of platelets (a condition that predisposes to blood clots),
• deficits of vitamins and other nutrients, due to diarrhea, which favors malabsorption,
• intestine perforation,
• digestive cancer.

Non-digestive inflammatory bowel disease symptoms are represented by different medical conditions: liver disease (cholangiocarcinoma, primitive sclerosing cholangitis), arthritis, myositis (these patients need treatment with cortisone, which can determine, as an adverse effect, myositis), renal failure (due to dehydration), oral ulcerations, stomatitis etc.
How do we diagnose it? Once there is a clinical suspicion, a colonoscopy and intestine biopsy are needed in order to confirm the inflammatory bowel disease and also to distinguish between the two forms of inflammatory bowel disease (for each disease, there is a different histological pattern, the macroscopic aspect and the lesions location are criteria used to confirm which one of the inflammatory bowel disease is responsible for symptoms).
What is the treatment for this disease? Depending on whether there are complications, inflammatory bowel disease can be treated with cortisone (there are schemes of treatment starting with increasing doses of cortisone, which will be diminished gradually once the disease is under control), anti-inflammatory agents (like sulfasalazine), immunosuppressive medication (if the first two types of drugs are not effective) or surgery if there are complications like fistula, stenosis or intestine perforation or if disease can’t be controlled with medication.
What is the evolution of the inflammatory bowel disease? Inflammatory bowel disease symptoms have a fluctuanting evolution; there are periods with symptoms, followed by “free” periods. There are medical scales which can estimate the severity of the disease, using indices like red blood cell sedimentation rate, heart rate, body temperature, numbers of stools per day.

If any of the inflammatory bowel disease symptoms occur do not treat yourself and call a doctor.

High triglycerides symptoms

Triglycerides are a form of blood fat and high triglycerides symptoms can occur at any person who have increased their level.

High triglycerides symptoms specifics

Triglycerides are the main components of vegetable oil and animal oils. Triglycerides from plasma are derived from food fats and carbohydrates. Calories ingested in a meal and not “burned” or used immediately by tissues, are converted into triglycerides and transported to cells to be stored as fat. Triglycerides and cholesterol can not dissolve in the blood circulating throughout your body with the help of proteins that carry lipids. Triglycerides play an important role in metabolism as energy sources. Excess of plasma triglycerides is called hypertriglyceridemia. High triglycerides levels usually do not causes symptoms so patients with hypertriglyceridemia do not go to the doctor for this problem. But sometimes can appear high triglycerides symptoms. People with high triglycerides (over 200 mg/dl) have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. People with diabetes or who are obese are also likely to have high triglycerides.

High triglycerides

The most common causes of occurrence of high triglycerides symptoms are the unhealthy food that individuals consume in daily life. One of the high triglycerides symptoms are eruptive xanthomas. These are deposits of lipids that appear on the skin especially on the skin around the eyes, elbows and knees in triglyceride levels over 1000 mg/dL. They often appear in groups and may cause pain at acute levels. Another high triglycerides symptoms is acute pancreatitis. Pancreas is an organ located in the abdominal cavity and which is behind the stomach. It has two functions: exocrine and endocrine function. Exocrine pancreas produces enzymes for digesting fats, proteins and carbohydrates, so they can be absorbed by the intestine.
If levels of triglycerides are very high for an extended period of time, high triglycerides symptoms may be abdominal pain because of liver or spleen enlargement.They can be discovered at a routine abdominal ultrasound. Doctors must seek the cause of hepatomegaly or splenomegaly.
High triglycerides symptoms can be treated by non-pharmacological methods or with drugs. Non-pharmacological methods refer mainly to lifestyle changes. First, if the patient with high triglycerides symptoms consumed excess alcohol, he must reduce alcohol to lower triglyceride levels. Patients should also reduce the consumption of fatty foods (butter, cream, margarine, bacon but other foods that contain high levels of fat). Another method of non-pharmacological treatment of high triglycerides symptoms refers to the practice of physical exercise. Patients with hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia may be overweight and then doctors recommend them to lose weight and thus decrease of triglycerides and cholesterol levels.

Treatment of high triglycerides symptoms

Doctors may also prescribe drugs to disappear high triglycerides symptoms. These are gemfibrozil or nicotinic acid. Gemfibrozil is a medicine that lowers blood cholesterol levels and that decreases the production of triglycerides from the liver. Nicotinic acid may also lower cholesterol and triglycerides levels.

 Conclusion

When patients go to the doctor for high triglycerides symptoms, they should be treated because in time can lead to several complications.

Hyperlipidemia symptoms

What are the hyperlipidemia symptoms ?

Hyperlipidemia represents increasing levels of lipid or lipoproteins in the blood and hyperlipidemia symptoms can be varied from patient to patient. Hyperlipidemia is a metabolic disease and may include changes in cholesterol (blood fat levels), triglycerides (a type of blood fat) or lipoproteins. There are two main types of hyperlipidemia: hypercholesterolemia (which occurs most frequently) and hypertriglyceridemia.  Hyperlipidemia may be a risk factor for atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases (coronary artery diseases and peripheral vascular diseases), but can affect other organs such as pancreas.

Hyperlipidemia symptoms

Hyperlipidemia symptoms are usually absent from most of the patients, if this is the only change to the analysis of blood. This can be found at a routine exam that the patient makes. It can remain undiagnosed for many years.
Hyperlipidemia symptoms can include first deposits of cholesterol (known as xanthomas) that form under the skin (especially around the eyes). They may be the only symptom that indicate an increase in blood lipids. They can also form the Achilles tendon and the extensor tendons of the hands. Xanthomas may have varied sizes, from very small to several centimeters. The diagnose of xanthoma can be done by physical examinations and by determining blood cholesterol levels.
Chest pain may be another symptom for hyperlipidemia. This pain can be felt by the patient as chest discomfort located anywhere. Patients go to the doctor for the fear of a heart attack. Hyperlipidemia is a risk factor for atherosclerosis (deposition of fat in the arteries of large and medium) that causes coronary artery diseases manifested primarily through chest pain. Any organ in the thorax may be the source of pain (heart, lungs, esophagus, muscles or nerves).
Another symptom which may be included in the category of hyperlipidemia symptoms is hepatomegaly (increased liver beyond normal size, 12 inches). This may or may not be associated with increased spleen size.
One of the last hyperlipidemia symptoms is abdominal pain. This may occur in the right hypochondrium where it is located the liver or anywhere in the abdomen. Hyperlipidemia occurs in the liver as fatty liver disease caused by the deposition of fat in liver cells. Pain in the abdomen can originate from many organs (stomach, small and large intestines, appendix, spleen, liver or pancreas). Pain may be generalized or may be located in a single point. In many cases patients don’t go to a doctor and expect that the pain to go by itself.
Treatment of hyperlipidemia symptoms

Treatment of hyperlipidemia symptoms can be done with drugs or by dietary changes, weight reduction and exercise. If cholesterol and triglycerides are not very high and patients have no important hyperlipidemia symptoms, doctors advice patients dietary changes by reducing dietary fat, weight loss and moderate exercise daily.
If  lipids values may be lower without drugs then doctors recommend the use statins (drugs used to lower cholesterol) and fibrates (drugs used to lower triglycerides).
Conclusion
In conclusion there are no specific hyperlipidemia symptoms, but if discovered at a routine exam is better to be treated because it can have serious complications.