Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a lifelong chronic condition that causes mild or severe symptoms, depending on the case, and it might lead to serious and life-threatening complications in some cases.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a condition that causes chronic inflammation and swelling in the digestive tract tissue, and IBD is the name of a group of conditions, the most common of which are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

IBD affects children, adults, and the elderly, but it’s most common in people between the ages of 15 and 35 years old.

Causes & risk factors leading to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

There isn’t a specific reason for IBD until now, yet there are various factors that play a role in its development, such as:

• Changes in the immune system’s job that make it attack the gut tissue and make it inflamed.
• Some genetic factors.
• Environmental triggers that affect the gut microbiome, like when the child is raised in an extremely sterile environment and not exposed to germs a lot, infants who are only bottle-fed, having a gastrointestinal infection at an early age, and taking antibiotics in the first year of life.

The risk of inflammatory bowel syndrome increases in case of:

• Family history.
• Smoking.
• Taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
• Stress.

Symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Symptoms differ depending on the severity of the case, and in general they include the following:

• Abdominal pain and cramps.
• Diarrhea.
• Loss of appetite and unintentional weight loss.
• Feeling extremely tired.
• Blood in the stool.

Complications of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Possible complications of IBD are:

• Colon cancer.
• Eye, skin, and joint inflammation.
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis.
• Anal fistula and stenosis.
• Bowel perforation.
• Severe dehydration.
• Blood clots.

Diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

• Physical examination.
• Blood tests.
• Imaging tests.

Treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

There isn’t a cure for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but the condition can be managed and relieved by:

• Certain medicines, like anti-inflammatories, immunomodulators, biologic drugs, corticosteroids, and drugs to manage the symptoms.
• Certain patients might need surgery.
• The condition might be relieved by avoiding triggering factors and foods in addition to following a suitable diet, avoiding smoking, and managing stress.