extensive UC vs pan-colitis? and what's cryptitis?

[Guest guest]

When authors refer to " extensive " UC, is it the same as pan-colitis

(involving the entire colon, I suppose)? Or does it refer to the

severity? In various references I've read things like " PSC is more

common with mild UC " , and elsewhere read that it correlates with

pan-colitis.

While I'm asking, what is focal cryptitis? I know from a biological

perspective, but not medically. Would this mean spotty sites of

inflammation? The colon crypts are the location of the colon stem

cells, which normally regenerate the colon epithelium every few days.

When they get mutations that release the brakes on their

proliferation, cancer follows.

I know many of us have UC that's anything but mild, so it's not a

great correlation obviously. Mine is asymptomatic, and was

undetectable in colonoscopies while I avoided milk, but has come back

to some extent as I reintroduced milk. Sorry to harp on the milk

think, but it makes me feel like I have some control over my

rebellious guts.

Martha (MA)

> One of the targets of PXR is the multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) gene,

> which is important for protection against ulcerative colitis. Both the

> MDR1 and PXR genes have been identified as inflammatory bowel disease

> genes, and seem to be particularly important in " extensive " ulcerative

> colitis (of the type found in PSC):

>

> Dave

> (father of (20); PSC 07/03; UC 08/03)

>