Inflammatory bowel disease: A survey of the epidemiology in Asia

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has long been considered a disease that affects predominantly a Western population. The incidence and prevalence rates from Asian populations are much lower in comparison. More recent data, however, have shown significantly higher rates in Asians and time trend studies have shown an increase in the incidence of ulcerative colitis (UC) and a similar but lower rise in Crohn's disease (CD). The epidemiological changes that are taking place mirror that of the Western experience seen 50 years previously and seem to occur in parallel with the rapid socioeconomic development taking place in Asia. It appears that certain racial groups are more prone than others to develop IBD. For instance, Indians in South‐East Asia have higher rates compared to Chinese and Malays. While there is host genetic predisposition, environmental factor(s) may be responsible for this difference. Migrant studies of South Asians in the UK, where second‐generation immigrants have assumed incidence rates as high as the indigenous whites and Asian Jews who develop high incidence rates comparable to Jews from Europe or North America in Israel point to the role of environmental factors. It is unclear which specific factors are responsible. Studies have suggested a change in diet to a more Westernized one may underlie this epidemiological change in the Asian population. It is likely that there are racial groups amongst Asians who are more susceptible to IBD and who will demonstrate a higher frequency of IBD when exposed to putative environmental factors.

Dietary Approach to Ulcerative Colitis Disease: Up to Date: Review

“…38 Total Parenteral Beslenme İBH'de total parenteral beslenme, özellikle atak döneminde olan hastaların barsak istirahatinin ve gelişen besin ögesi yetersizliklerinin sağlanması için uygulanabilir. 39 Ayrıca, malnütrisyon İBH hastalarında sıklıkla ortaya çıkan bir durumdur. Bu durumu engellemek için de total parenteral beslenme bu hastalarda uygulanabilir.…”

Ulcerative Colitis in Children and Adolescents

“…These regional differences illustrate the importance of environmental factors in the development of UC. Interestingly, recent reports from Asia, where IBD was previously considered to be rare, have shown increasing rates of UC (more so than with CD) (Goh and Xiao 2009). This pattern of differing rates across the globe also illustrates the importance of environmental factors.…”

Changing Patterns in the Epidemiology of Crohn Disease

“…The authors found a higher prevalence of IBD (including CD) among children with Middle East ancestry compared to a non-Middle Eastern control group [47] . It should be considered that increased awareness of health professionals and the public to the disease may have contributed to the reported increasing incidence and prevalence of the disease [34] .…”

“…The changing diet habits of Asian populations is one factor that may be responsible for the rising incidence [34,51] . A multicentre case-control study in Japan found that a higher consumption of refined sugars and a high fat diet correlated with the increase in newly diagnosed cases of CD in that country [52] .…”

“…The rapid increase in incidence and prevalence of CD worldwide has been especially prominent in Asian countries [34] . In one district of South Korea the incidence rate of CD rose significantly from 0.5 to 1.34 per 100,000 of the population over a 20 year period [35] .…”