A study with the participation of CIBEREHD reveals, for the first time, that the real incidence of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (EIII) in Spain is 16 cases per 100,000 inhabitants-year.
We use the term “inflammatory bowel disease” to describe or group various disorders that involve inflammation of the tissues of the digestive tract that can be considered chronic, that is, over a long period of time.
And also, as explained by the Spanish Foundation of the Digestive System (FEAD), these are pathologies “originated by immunological, genetic and environmental factors.”
“Let’s create a gut-friendly world”
With this motto, the World Day of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) explaining that more than 10 million people worldwide live with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease.
And he asks for collaborations because “not everyone has the necessary resources to meet dietary needs, access to the bathroom or the necessary information about their disease”
Both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease usually present with:
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Diarrhea
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Rectal bleeding
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Abdominal pain
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Fatigue
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Weightloss.
And broadly speaking we could summarize the two diseases as follows:
- Ulcerative colitis. It causes inflammation and sores (ulcers) in the lining of the large intestine (colon) and rectum.
- Crohn’s disease. It is characterized by inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract, generally its deepest layers, and most frequently affects the small intestine. But, it can also affect the large intestine and, rarely, the upper gastrointestinal tract.
- indeterminate colitis
In any case, in addition to digestive systemthese pathologies also affect other parts of the body.
We are talking about the Ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and Colitis indeterminate
Pathologies with a very high social cost
Inflammatory bowel disease is usually diagnosed in young patients and, until now, its incidence among the general Spanish population has been unknown.
As he comments doctor Javier P. Gisberthead of the Comprehensive Care Unit for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease at La Princesa University Hospital and group leader of the .
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«It is one of the pathologies that entails a higher social cost, due to the direct and indirect costs derived from it. Knowing its incidence is crucial to be able to organize the necessary health resources to care for these patients.»
Precisely in order to find out the prevalence of this intestinal pathology, Dr. Gisbert has worked together with the doctor Maria Chaparroa specialist in digestive medicine at the Comprehensive Care Unit for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the Hospital Universitario de La Princesa and a CIBEREHD researcher.
Both have led Incidence, Clinical Characteristics and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Spain: Large-Scale Epidemiological Study (EpidemIBD) whose results are published by the Spanish Working Group on Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis (GETECCU).
Results of the EpidemIBD study
The study has included more than 3,600 patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease throughout the year 2017which represents an incidence of 16 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year.
Specifically, 7.5 for Crohn’s disease and 8 for ulcerative colitis.
These figures are higher than previously described in Spain, and similar to what has been observed in northern European countries.
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«Extrapolating these figures, we can estimate that each year approximately 10,000 new cases of IBD,” assured Dr. Chaparro shortly after making the study public.
Besides, up to 20% of patients with Crohn’s disease had complications (stenosing or fistulizing) at the time of diagnosis.
The study highlights the high frequency of use of biologic drugsespecially in Crohn’s disease.
Dr. Gisbert explains that thanks to the study it was observed that:
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«The use of therapeutic resources in IBD is high and higher than previously described. This information is of great value to all parties involved in the care of these patients.”
In this sense, during the first 12 months from diagnosis:
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One third of the patients had received treatment with systemic corticosteroids.
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A quarter had received immunosuppressants
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15% organic
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5% had been operated on for IBD.
Especially high figures in patients with Crohn’s disease
Approximately 50% of these patients received systemic corticosteroids, 50% immunosuppressants, and approximately 30% had been exposed to treatment with biologics within 12 months of diagnosis.
In addition, one in 10 patients with Crohn’s disease had required at least one surgical intervention throughout the first year.
With respect to hospital admissionsone third of the patients had been hospitalized in the first year from diagnosis.
- More than 70% of admissions occurred due to the debut outbreak of the disease.
In the words of Dr. Chaparro and Dr. Gisbert:
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“The results of this study underline the importance of inflammatory bowel disease for health systems and for society in general, which have to deal with the management of such a complex disease.”
To achieve the proposed objectives, more than a hundred units have worked together…