Global burden of inflammatory bowel disease

The inflammatory bowel diseases ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are chronic, relapsing disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Collectively, these conditions can result in debilitating physical and psychosocial symptoms for patients and affect society through loss of schooling, absenteeism, and health-care costs. More than 2 million Europeans and 1·5 million North Americans have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the majority of...