What is Inflammatory Bowel Disease?

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is an umbrella term referring to two chronic diseases that cause inflammation of the intestines: ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Though UC and CD are different diseases they do have features in common but there are important distinctions also. Frequently, the symptoms caused by UC and CD are similar.

Both diseases are chronic and most frequently have their onset in early adult life. Some patients have alternating periods of relative health (remission) alternating with periods of disease (relapse or flare), while other patients have continuous symptoms from continued inflammation. Fortunately, as treatment has improved the proportion of people with continued symptoms appears to have diminished significantly .

The severity of the diseases varies widely between individuals. Some suffer only mild symptoms, but others have severe and disabling symptoms. Some have a gradual onset of symptoms, some develop them suddenly. About half of patients have mild symptoms, the other half suffer frequent flare-ups. Medical science has not yet discovered a cause or cure, but numerous medications are now available to control symptoms with many more on the horizon.