The difference between colitis and enteritis, the symptoms of the two should be distinguished

Colitis and enteritis are both common diseases. We need to understand the symptoms of the two in order to distinguish them in time. Colitis is mostly a slow-onset disease, while enteritis is often an acute attack. For both, dietary adjustments must be made.

1. Basic symptoms of colitis

(1) Diarrhea: Diarrhea is the main symptom of early colitis. It often recurs, mostly caused by improper diet, emotional excitement, and excessive fatigue.

(2) Abdominal pain: Mild patients have no abdominal pain or only abdominal discomfort. Generally, there is mild to moderate abdominal pain, which is pain in the lower left abdomen and may involve the entire abdomen. There is a pattern of relief after a bowel movement.

(3) Constipation: The patient has bowel movements once every 4-5 days. The stool is like sheep dung. In severe cases, the patient cannot have a bowel movement without taking laxatives.

(4) Other symptoms: abdominal distension, weight loss, fatigue, bowel sounds, insomnia, frequent dreams, fear of cold, and in severe cases, fever, rapid heartbeat, weakness, anemia, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, nutritional disorders, and mental weakness.

2. Symptoms and signs of enteritis

1. Patients with acute enteritis

Acute enteritis is an acute inflammatory change in the gastrointestinal mucosa caused by eating foods containing pathogens and their toxins, or improper diet, such as excessive intake of irritating and indigestible foods. Its pathological manifestations include congestion, edema, and increased mucus secretion of the gastrointestinal mucosa, sometimes accompanied by bleeding and erosion. In my country, the incidence rate is higher in summer and autumn, with no gender difference. The general incubation period is 12-36 hours.

Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are the main symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. Why does acute gastroenteritis cause vomiting and diarrhea? This is caused by nerve reflex. In acute gastroenteritis, bacteria, toxins or inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa stimulate the receptors in the digestive tract, and impulses are transmitted to the vomiting center in the medulla oblongata, causing excitement of the vomiting center. The impulses reach the stomach, diaphragm, respiratory muscles, abdominal muscles, pharynx, palate, epiglottis, etc. through the efferent nerves, causing a series of coordinated movements that constitute the vomiting action. At the same time, due to the inflammatory stimulation of the intestinal mucosa, the intestinal contents increase, which directly or reflexly causes increased intestinal motility and reduced absorption function, resulting in diarrhea.

Since vomiting and diarrhea have a certain protective effect on the human body under certain circumstances, different measures should be taken clinically according to different situations. For example, in case of food poisoning or accidental ingestion of poison, not only should antidiarrheal drugs not be given, but on the contrary, emetics and laxatives should be given to promote the excretion of poison. If vomiting and diarrhea are caused by gastrointestinal inflammation, in order to reduce the adverse effects of water-salt metabolism and electrolyte imbalance on the body, antiemetic and antidiarrheal treatments should be given while actively treating the cause.

2. Patients with chronic enteritis

Chronic enteritis refers to chronic inflammatory diseases of the intestines, which may be caused by infections with microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, or by allergies, hypersensitivity reactions, etc. The clinical manifestations are long-term chronic or recurrent abdominal pain, diarrhea, indigestion, etc. In severe cases, there may be mucus or watery stools.