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How Whipples Disease can Mimic Ulcerative Colitis?

Whipple's disease is a gastrointestinal infection that often disrupts the process of digestion. Caused by the Tropheryma whipplei, exposure to this relatively rare bacterium can impede the absorption of vitamins and minerals from the foods you eat, upsetting your overall nutrition. However, this bacterial infection not only affects this facet of your digestion, it can also make it difficult for you to breakdown certain types of foods, especially those containing carbohydrates and fats. When this happens, you may begin to experience certain symptoms that can mimic ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease.

  1. Diarrhea

    • One of the main symptoms of Whipple's disease that essentially mimics that of ulcerative colitis is diarrhea. Both conditions can cause your intestinal tract to contract more than relax. These contractions force waste to move through your system at a faster rate. Under normal circumstances, fluid is absorbed as waste is passed. But at this heightened pace, absorption is impeded and can cause you to suffer from bouts of loose, watery stools.

    Cramping

    • Another symptom of Whipple's disease that's similar to ulcerative colitis is abdominal cramping. These cramps have a great deal to do with the heightened rate of intestinal contractions. When the muscles of the intestines contract at a greater rate than normal, it can cause them suffer a spasm (which is ultimately a sudden and violent contraction). This spasm translates into the feeling of a cramp in the abdomen.

    Weight Loss

    • Since the majority of your nutrients are absorbed in the small intestines, the heightened rate of contractions can prevent proper absorption of vitamins and minerals. When nutrients aren't moved from food to your system, you can actually experience an unexplained weight loss, which is a symptom of both Whipple's Disease and ulcerative colitis.

    Fatigue

    • Though more of a symptom of another symptom, it is also possible to suffer from a certain amount of fatigue or exhaustion with both Whipple's Disease and ulcerative colitis. When your body is deprived of nutrients, you'll eventually experience some level of malnutrition, which often triggers fatigue and exhaustion.

    Fever

    • Both Whipple's Disease and ulcerative colitis can cause you to suffer from a fever that lingers for a couple of days. This fever is "unexplained" and is usually low-grade in nature, running somewhere between 99 and 100 degrees F.

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