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Colitis is a long-term condition in which your colon and rectum have inflammation. The colon is your large intestine while its end part is known as rectum which stores the stool. It may swell during colitis. Colitis can be of different types such as ulcerative colitis, microscopic colitis and infectious colitis.

The causes of colitis are as follows: autoimmune conditions (the body produces antibodies against itself) such as rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease and thyroid disorders; family history; use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; and microbial infections.

Your doctor needs to rule out conditions having similar symptoms to diagnose the exact type of colitis. Doctor will diagnose in the following ways after examining the symptoms and noting the history: physical examination; laboratory tests on blood and stool samples; endoscopic examination to look inside the intestine; and imaging studies like CT scans and MRI.

If you have ulcerative colitis or microscopic colitis, you may need surgery, at such cases hospitalization is required. In case of mild symptoms of the condition, your gastroenterologist will treat you with medicines.

In infectious colitis, an appropriate antimicrobial can cure the condition. However, for ulcerative colitis and microscopic colitis, the underlying causes make it difficult to cure the disease completely. Your doctor will recommend managing the condition using medicines, lifestyle modifications and surgery if necessary to manage the remission of the condition.