Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) though not still regarded a public health problem has been spreading tentacles mainly in the urban areas of the country, affecting very active age group and leading to economical and social problems. Broadly, an inflammation off colon and small intestine, the IBD is found to affect at a young age. Experts from different parts of the globe have assembled in the city for an international symposium on IBD organised by the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG) to understand the reasons for rise in its incidence, costs involved in treatment and the need and ways to create awareness.
What are the basic symptoms where a person should get alert on possibilities of IBD? Diarrhoea that lasts more than three weeks should not be ignored and so are other factors such as presence of blood in stool, loss of weight, abdomen pain and possible joint pains and fever. Experts in the field - Simon Travis (UK), Stephen B Hanauer, Stephan Targan and Sasan Hutfless (USA), Siew C Ng (Hong Kong) apart from AIG chairman D. Nageshwar Reddy - in a meeting with media personnel stressed the need to accept the realities of IBD and prepare accordingly.
“We have absolutely no data on IBD in India. No data as to how many are affected, how many are susceptible and so on. We need to take it very seriously as projections hint at the possibilities of 13 million cases by the year 2021,” said Dr. Reddy.
A major share of blame for IBD is laid on adaption of westernised lifestyle. Dr. Sasan Hutfless says: Western lifestyle could make one more susceptible and prevalence of this disease is found more in the urban areas.
Dr. Travis called for measures to ensure access to diagnostics, care and management of problems arising out the IBD.
If diarrhoea persists for three weeks or more, a doctor should be consulted immediately and possibilities of IBD checked. “But in India, it is not taken seriously due to a host of factors,” Dr. Reddy said. Since the disease is found to be striking among the younger, the IT professionals, given their lifestyle, need to be more alert. Though stress can’t be treated as a direct impacting factor, its contributory role could not be ruled out, experts observed. Biological therapies are there to treat the IBD but they come costly and are affordable for very few.
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