Clostridium difficile infection (C diff) is a bowel infection caused by toxin-producing bacteria. C diff is a serious infection that can range from mild diarrhea to severe inflammation of your colon that can be life threatening. C diff is not caused by anything you eat and you can’t cure it … Read More
Intestinal infections tend to hit at the worst times. Five years ago, my husband, two children and I were cruising from one Croatian Island to the next when it happened—gut-wrenching cramps doubled me over while sweat dripped down every crevice. I had gone from feeling slightly nauseous to wanting to … Read More
Romaine lettuce contaminated by E. coli caused dozens of illnesses and five deaths between November 2017 and June 2018. Just before Thanksgiving 2018, we received news of another E. coli outbreak traced to romaine lettuce. No deaths resulted, but 43 people fell ill with a strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. … Read More
Ticks are nasty bugs that transmit a number of diseases, among them anaplasmosis. What is anaplasmosis? It's caused by the bacteria Anaplasma phagocytophilum, which the tick shares when it bites a host. Anaplasmosis is the second-most common tick disease, after Lyme disease. Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention While the incidence … Read More
What is ulcerative colitis? Simply put, it’s a condition that causes inflammation and ulcers in the inside lining of the large intestine (rectum and colon). It affects just the top layer of the intestinal lining (called the mucosa). Crohn’s disease also causes inflammation, usually in the small intestine, but it … Read More
