Is Inflammatory Bowel Disease a serious disease?
There is only one disease with different levels or stages based on the seriousness of the condition. No disease starts in a more serious stage. It all starts the same way and progresses the same way. Inflammation, unfortunately is a progressed stage of disease and needs attention quickly or it will continue to worsen.
All inflammatory diseases are the same stage; they just occur in different parts of the body. Depending on what part of the body is affected, some inflammatory diseases can become more serious than others, but the cause behind them is usually the same. When a person is inflamed in more sensitive areas such as the gut people tend to react sooner because of severe pain and fear. The digestive tract is one of those sensitive areas.
IBD is a serious inflammatory disease that, if not taken care of can lead to many other problems such as nutrient deficiencies and emotional sickness, and also latter stages of disease such as colon cancer.
There are many very painful inflammatory diseases prevalent today, the most widespread of which is rheumatoid arthritis. However, IBD is the most common. All inflammatory diseases are characterized by periods of inactivity when life is pretty normal, but active periods called flare-ups can make you feel pretty miserable.
Why do some people get less serious forms of inflammatory diseases while others get more serious ones, and still others get none at all?
The body will do it’s best to avoid disease, but when the conditions for disease are present and are not dealt with in the right way we will suffer. Usually, the weakest parts suffer the most. That is why not everyone suffers from the same illness or stage of disease at the same time. If people don’t take care of themselves, they will all suffer from one illness or another and the stage of their illness will continue to advance. People get the same stage of disease (inflammation) in different areas of the body. Some people will get Arthritis, some will get Proctitis, others Pancreatits, and still others Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis. These are all forms of inflammation in some part of the body.