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The Natural History of IBD: Lessons Learned

  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease (G Lichtenstein, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), which include Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic, relapsing diseases with unknown etiologies. The purpose of this review is to present the natural disease course evidenced in the latest epidemiology data.

Recent Findings

The prevalence of IBD is rapidly increasing, affecting five million patients worldwide with the highest incidence observed in Northern Europe and Northern America. It has been shown that both CD and UC patients are at an increased risk for developing cancer of the gastrointestinal tract compared to the general population. Though the disease course of IBD is unpredictable, the rate of surgical treatment has declined potentially as a consequence of the introduction of immunomodulators and new biologic treatment options.

Summary

Treatments with biological agents and/or immunosuppressive drugs as well as disease monitoring with eHealth devices seem to have a positive impact on the disease course. However, long-term follow-up studies are still lacking and therefore no reliable conclusions can be drawn as of yet. Medical compliance is paramount in the treatment of IBD, and continuous research focusing on approaches that increase compliance is also necessary.

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  1. Department of Gastroenterology, North Zealand University Hospital, Frederikssundsvej 30, 3600, Frederikssund, Denmark

    Petra Weimers MD, PhD & Pia Munkholm MD, DMSci

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Pia Munkholm declares no conflict of interest.

Petra Weimers has received grants from Ferring lægemiddler and Tillotts Pharma, and non-financial support from Janssen-Cilag A/S, Calpro AS, and Vifor Pharma Nordiska AB.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Inflammatory Bowel Disease

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Weimers, P., Munkholm, P. The Natural History of IBD: Lessons Learned. Curr Treat Options Gastro 16, 101–111 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11938-018-0173-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11938-018-0173-3

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