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Michael Mauti’s season is over with the New Orleans Saints, as it was revealed on Tuesday that doctors have told the veteran linebacker that it’s time for surgery. Mauti told the media that he’s been dealing with ulcerative colitis for years, and it’s time for him to take care of it with him not being able to keep weight on.
Mauti landed on the NFL’s non-football injury related list, or NFI, on Monday after missing practices last week due to an illness.
According to Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (or CCFA), this is a chronic disease that affects the large intestine.
Ulcerative colitis is the result of an abnormal response by your body's immune system. Normally, the cells and proteins that make up the immune system protect you from infection. In people with IBD, however, the immune system mistakes food, bacteria, and other materials in the intestine for foreign or invading substances. When this happens, the body sends white blood cells into the lining of the intestines, where they produce chronic inflammation and ulcerations.