Fast Facts: Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises two idiopathic chronic relapsing and remitting inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract: ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Understanding of the etiopathogenesis of IBD, and how best to treat it, continues to advance rapidly and has led to the need for this new edition. Chapter 1 has been substantially revised, emphasizing recent data that indicate how the gut microbiome and its human host may interact to cause IBD in genetically susceptible people. In later chapters, the latest thinking on how best to use immunomodulatory and biological drugs is discussed, along with new sections on recently introduced and imminent therapies. This book is aimed at non-specialist doctors (particularly primary care providers and hospital doctors in training), nurses, stoma therapists, dieticians, psychologists, counselors, social workers and other professionals involved in the care of patients with IBD.