Preclinical disease and preventive strategies in IBD: perspectives, challenges and opportunities

Introduction IBDs, encompassing Crohn's disease (CD) and UC, are chronic, relapsing and remitting, inflammatory diseases of the GI tract. IBD is emerging as a globally important disease with epidemiological studies showing that there is a significant increase in IBD’s incidence in most regions of the world.1 In high-incidence areas such as North America, disease already affects around 0.6% of the population.1 As low/middle-income countries continue to become more industrialised, an increasing incidence is also expected to occur in areas of the globe where IBD was previously considered rare.2 3 Furthermore, as trends in life expectancy increase globally, the emergence of chronic health conditions, including IBD, will represent a growing proportion of individual and society health impact. The recent acknowledgement that IBD is a progressive disease has changed the focus of therapeutic strategies. It is now widely accepted that treating effectively...
Source: Gut - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Crohn's disease Leading article Source Type: research