An Alberta researcher has determined that Canada and Europe have the highest incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IDB), which the report suggests is growing in prevalence. The global study on the painful disease, conducted by the University of Calgary’s Gilaad G. Kaplan, a gastroenterologist and epidemiologist, was published in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. He says 0.5 per cent of Canadians suffer from some form of IBD..
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, the two major illnesses that fall under the umbrella of IBD, occur most often in individuals between 20 and 40, which can result in a long-term cost to patients, health-care systems and society.