The Medical Management of Ulcerative Colitis

There are many different types of ulcerative colitis. All forms of ulcerative colitis assume in their very nature the status of chronic disease. Hence the term "chronic ulcerative colitis" is best used to denote general clinicopathologic syndromes rather than to designate one of the several specific disease entities in which these syndromes are present. In medical practice it becomes necessary to study chronic ulcerative colitis according to etiologic types, and the first and most fundamental clinical effort should be directed at determining the specific etiologic factor responsible for the development of the syndrome in a given case. The infection may be caused by one or more of several bacteria or animal parasites, in association with certain dietary and constitutional deficiencies, or by other conditions, some of them still unknown. STREPTOCOCCIC ULCERATIVE COLITIS The most common condition of the group involving primarily the large intestine is that commonly referred to as