What is a typical symptom pattern seen in ulcerative colitis?

• A. Intermittent constipation with weight loss.
• B. Occasional vomiting and fever.
• C. Diarrhea with blood, but not continuous.
• D. Frequent, bloody stools with abdominal cramping and urgency in a continuous distribution starting at the rectum.

Answer: (D)

Ulcerative colitis presents with a continuous inflammatory pattern in the colon that starts at the rectum and extends upward. That leads to frequent, bloody stools accompanied by abdominal cramping and a strong urge to defecate. The key idea is the continuous involvement from the rectum, which produces this persistent, urgent diarrhea with blood.

Other patterns don’t fit as well. Constipation with weight loss isn’t typical for ulcerative colitis, which more often causes diarrhea. Vomiting and fever can occur in severe illness but don’t define the usual picture. Blood in diarrhea can occur, but the hallmark in ulcerative colitis is the continuous, rectal-onset involvement producing ongoing, bloody stools with cramps and urgency, rather than a patchy or non-continuous pattern seen in some other conditions.