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.
The prevalence of C. difficile infection has been increasing steadily particularly in the elderly. There have been reports from several hospitals of a newer, more virulent strain of
C. difficile bacteria that produces large amounts of both toxins A and B and as well as a third toxin. This strain produces more severe colitis than the usual strains. Patients infected by this strain are more seriously ill, require surgery more frequently, and die from the infection more frequently than patients infected with the usual strains. Currently, the commercially available diagnostic tests cannot distinguish this strain from the usual strains.
Traditionally, antibiotic use is often considered the most important factor for the development of
C. difficile colitis. Increasingly though doctors are diagnosing C. difficile colitis in patients without antecedent antibiotic exposure. This is especially true in patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. In one study of 92 patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease relapse, 10 patients tested positive for
C. difficile.
Another change that is occurring with C. difficile infection is that it is no longer restricted to patients in hospitals or nursing homes. Up to one-quarter of infections begin out of the hospital.
Doctors are witnessing increasing difficulty in treating C. difficile colitis. Firstly, resistance to metronidazole is on the rise. Secondly, colitis (along with symptoms of diarrhea and cramps) is taking longer to resolve and may require higher doses of vancomycin. Thirdly
C. difficile colitis relapse (with recurrent diarrhea) is common. More troublesome still, many patients experience multiple relapses, often requiring prolonged (months) antibiotic (such as vancomycin) treatment.
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.
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