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Inflammatory bowel disease is an umbrella term which tends to refer to two conditions - Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Both can be considered as chronic, relapsing-remitting, non-infectious inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.1-4
Core symptoms may be episodic and include abdominal pain, diarrhoea, weight loss, and blood in the stool. Inflammation from excess neutrophils, macrophages, the release of cytokine proteins involved in cell signalling, proteolytic enzymes and free radicals are all implicated in the breakdown of gastrointestinal tissues with ulceration.5
While ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease have several clinical features in common, they are regarded as separate conditions, and can be further categorised by the parts of the GI system affected (which can include the mouth and anus in Crohn’s disease).
A core difference is that in Crohn’s disease, the full thickness of the intestinal wall is inflamed, while the inflammation in ulcerative colitis tends to be restricted to the intestinal mucosa.4,6
However, it is not always possible to differentiate between the two, even when looking at cell types. Between 5-10 per cent of people have indeterminate colitis which is now called ‘inflammatory bowel disease type unclassified’.3
As well as the pain and discomfort, people with IBD have to live with the psychosocial impact of symptoms including the sudden and/or frequent need to use a toilet, impairing quality of life.