Maryland's Health Matters - Midtown - Winter 2015 - (Page 6)

Gut Check How one woman regained control over her ulcerative colitis F or Brenda Tilghman, 64, the battles with ulcerative colitis began more than 20 years ago. But after her initial diagnosis, she was able to stay relatively symptom-free for the majority of those years. However, Tilghman's good symptom control ended in 2014. Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes inﬂammation of the lining of the colon. Experts don't know what causes it, although it likely involves immune system issues, genetic factors, environmental triggers, and exposure to certain contents within the gastrointestinal tract. Stress has been linked to worsening ulcerative colitis. (Stress can also trigger gastrointestinal problems that are not related to ulcerative colitis.) Tilghman, of Baltimore, lost several family members within an 18-month time period. "Stress plays a very big part when you have colitis. You've got to keep that stress level down. I was constantly under a lot of stress," she says. "I was going to the bathroom 10, 15, 25 times a day and I was bleeding. I couldn't stand or sit, and I had to support myself against the wall to go to the bathroom." She called her doctor, H. Jeffrey Schwartz, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and 6 MARYLAND'S HEALTH MATTERS  Schedule an appointment with the Division of Gastroenterology at UMMC Midtown Campus by

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maryland's Health Matters - Midtown - Winter 2015

Maryland's Health Matters - Midtown - Winter 2015
In This Issue
A Healthy Start
Sleep on It
Gut Check
A Life Back in Bloon
At a Glance
Put Your Best Food Forward

Maryland's Health Matters - Midtown - Winter 2015