Dr. Lee was born in Shanghai, China, and received his college and medical training in the United States. He is fluent in English and three Chinese dialects. He graduated with chemistry departmental honors from Harvey Mudd College. He was appointed president of AOA society at UCLA School of Medicine. He underwent internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship training at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.
Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Individuals with mild C. difficile colitis may have:
a low-grade fever,
mild diarrhea (5-10 watery stools a day),
mild abdominal cramps and tenderness.
Those with severe C. difficile colitis may have:
a high fever (temperature of 102 F to 104 F),
severe diarrhea (more than 10 watery stools a day) with blood, and
severe abdominal pain and tenderness.
Severe diarrhea also can lead to dehydration and disturbances in the
electrolytes (minerals) in the body. Rarely, severe colitis can lead to
life-threatening complications such as megacolon (markedly dilated colon),
peritonitis (inflammation of the lining of the abdominal), and perforation of
the colon.
What is Clostridium difficile (C. difficile)?
Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a bacterium that is related to the
bacterium that cause tetanus and botulism. The
C. difficile bacterium has two
forms, an active, infectious form that cannot survive in the environment for
prolonged periods, and a nonactive, "noninfectious" form, called a spore, that
can survive in the environment for prolonged periods. Although spores cannot
cause infection directly, when they are ingested they transform into the active,
infectious form.
C. difficile spores are found frequently in:
hospitals,
nursing homes,
extended
care facilities, and
nurseries for newborn infants.
They can be found on:
bedpans,
furniture,
toilet seats,
linens,
telephones,
stethoscopes,
fingernails,
rings (jewelry),
floors,
infants' rooms, and
diaper pails.
They even can be carried by
pets. Thus, these environments are a ready source for infection with C.
difficile.
What is Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) colitis?
Antibiotic-associated (C. difficile) colitis is an infection of the colon caused
by C. difficile that occurs primarily among individuals who have been using
antibiotics. It is the most common infection acquired by patients while they are
in the hospital. More than three million C. difficile infections occur in
hospitals in the US each year. After a stay of only two days in a hospital, 10%
of patients will develop infection with C. difficile. C. difficile also may be
acquired outside of hospitals in the community. It is estimated that 20,000
infections with C. difficile occur in the community each year in the U.S.
Clostridium Difficile Colitis - How Was Diagnosis EstablishedQuestion: What kinds of treatments have been effective for your clostridium difficile colitis (antibiotic-associated colitis, c. difficile colitis)?
Abdominal pain is pain in the belly and can be acute or chronic. Causes include inflammation, distention of an organ, and loss of the blood supply to an organ. Abdominal pain can reflect a major problem with one of the organs in the abdomen such as the appendix, gallbladder, large and small intestine, pancreas, liver, colon, duodenum, and spleen.
Diarrhea is a change is the frequency and looseness of bowel movements. Cramping, abdominal pain, and the sensation of rectal urgency are all symptoms of diarrhea. Absorbents and anti-motility medications are used to treat diarrhea.
Dehydration is the excessive loss of body water. There are a number of causes of dehydration including heat exposure, prolonged vigorous exercise, and some diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. The best way to treat dehydration is to prevent it from occurring.
Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease,
primarily involving the small and large intestine, but which can
affect other parts of the digestive system as well. Abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and weight loss are
common symptoms.
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammation of the colon. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and rectal bleeding. Ulcerative colitis is closely related to Crohn's disease, and together they are referred to as inflammatory bowel disease. Treatment depends upon the type of ulcerative colitis diagnosed.
Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degrees F. (37 degrees C.), in practice a person is usually not considered to have a significant fever until the temperature is above 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C.). Fever is part of the body's own disease-fighting arsenal: rising body temperatures apparently are capable of killing off many disease- producing organisms.
Stool color is generally brown. When stool color changes, often, an individual becomes concerned. The presence of the bilirubin in bile is generally responsible for stool color. Bilirubin concentration can vary bile color from light yellow to almost black in color. Changes in bilirubin can cause stool to turn green, gray, or clay-like in color. Intestinal bleeding may turn stool black, tarry, red, maroon, or smelly stool. Medication and food may also affect stool color.
Inflammation of the inner lining of the colon is referred to as colitis. Symptoms of the inflammation of the colon lining include diarrhea, pain, and blood in the stool. There are several causes of colitis including infection, ischemia of the colon, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease, Ulcerative colitis, or microscopic colitis). Treatment depends on the cause of the colitis.
Digestion is the complex process of turning food you eat into the energy you need to survive. The digestive process also involves creating waste to be eliminated, and is made of a series of muscles that coordinate the movement of food.
A computerized axial tomography scan is an x-ray procedure that combines many x-ray images with the aid of a computer to generate cross-sectional views and, if needed, three-dimensional images of the internal organs and structures of the body. Computerized axial tomography is more commonly known by its abbreviated names, CT scan or CAT scan. A CT scan is used to define normal and abnormal structures in the body and/or assist in procedures by helping to accurately guide the placement of instruments or treatments.
A large donut-shaped x-ray machine takes x-ray images at many different angles around the body. These images are processed by a computer to produce cross-sectional pictures of the body. In each of these pictures the body is seen as an x-ray "slice" of the body, which is recorded on a film. This recorded image is called a tomogram. "Computerized Axial Tomography" refers to the recorded tomogram "sections" at different levels of the bod...
Digestion RSS
Healthy Living Tips
This site complies with the