Inflammatory (say: in-FLAM-uh-tor-ee) bowel disease is not a single ailment. It actually refers to a number of disorders that cause inflammation (say: in-fluh-MAY-shun) and, often, ulcers in the intestinal (say: in-TES-tuh-nul) tract. Ulcers are tears or breaks in the lining of the intestines that can cause pain or bleeding.