Overview of inflammatory bowel disease (ibd)

[Lizzy Liz]

In inflammatory bowel diseases, the intestine (bowel) becomes inflamed, often causing recurring abdominal pain and diarrhea.
The two primary types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are

Crohn disease
Ulcerative colitis

These two diseases have many similarities and sometimes are difficult to distinguish from each other. However, there are several differences. For example, Crohn disease can affect almost any part of the digestive tract, whereas ulcerative colitis almost always affects only the large intestine.
The cause of inflammatory bowel disease is not known, but evidence suggests that normal intestinal bacteria trigger an abnormal immune reaction in people with a genetic predisposition.
Inflammatory bowel disease affects people of all ages but usually begins before age 30, typically from age 14 to 24. A few people have their first attack between the ages of 50 and 70. IBD is most common among people of Northern European and Anglo-Saxon descent and is 2 to 4 times more common among Ashkenazi Jews than non-Jewish whites who live in the same region. Both sexes are equally affected. First-degree relatives (mother, father, sister, or brother) of people with IBD have a 4- to 20-fold increased risk of developing IBD. The tendency to run in families is much higher in Crohn disease than ulcerative colitis.