IBD stands for ‘Inflammatory Bowel Disease’ which includes 2 main conditions: Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis. IBD should not be confused with ‘IBS’ which stands for ‘irritable bowel syndrome’ and which is much more common and much less severe than IBD. It is estimated that as many as 5 – 10% of the population of countries in the western world suffer from IBS, which may develop after gastrointestinal infections, courses of antibiotics or as a result of stress and anxiety. The prevalence of IBD however is each only about 140 per 100,000 of the population, and its causes are far less well understood.
IBD means that there is inflammation in the bowel wall which causes reddening, swelling, ulceration and bleeding, visible at endoscopy or on X-rays. The inflammation seen under the microscope in small samples of affected bowel (biopsies) taken at endoscopy, often differ from one form of IBD to another, helping an accurate diagnosis to be reached, and the correct treatment to be prescribed.
There are several types of IBD, but the two most frequent and most important are Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis (UC).
In this section
- Differences between Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis Factor Crohn’s Disease Ulcerative Colitis Distribution Affects small bowel and large bowel Affects large bowel only…
- Other forms of IBD As well as Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, there are other conditions in which the large intestine becomes…
- Should I go for drugs or diet? If your doctor believes that you have Ulcerative Colitis (UC), you have little choice. UC does not respond to dietary…
- What are the symptoms of IBD? The main symptoms are: Diarrhoea Abdominal pain Blood in the stools Poor appetite & weight loss However, there may…
- What is the cause of IBD? There are several factors which are now understood to be important in the development of Inflammatory Bowel Disease…