A classmate tells you that he missed three classes due to illness. He tells you that he had no health problems until about 2 months ago when he started
developing recurring bouts of diarrhea, four times in the past 2 months. Each time, the diarrhea lasted 3 days and then went away. Since you are in an
anatomy and physiology class, he had no reservations describing that he had semisolid bowel movements with blood after 2 days of diarrhea. During the
bouts of diarrhea, he experienced headaches, mild cramps, and abdominal pain on the right side, but no fever, nausea, or vomiting. You notice that your
classmate
smokes regularly. He also has significant stress from school and work. Your classmate mentions that his mother had an intestinal disorder, but he
cannot remember the name of the disease.
What could be causing your classmate's ailments?