Who Gets Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)?

The onset of inflammatory bowel disease may be influenced by age, gender, and geography.

 

 

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis most commonly begin in young people. Although it is unusual to see this disorder in children below the age of 5, there is an increase in the occurrence of IBD up until the age of 20, with maximum incidence in the age group between 20 and 40. It is less common, but certainly not unheard of, for older individuals in their 50s and 60s to first experience IBD. First onset of disease is quite rare in the elderly. When symptoms first occur in someone from that age group, the attending doctor will usually consider other causes as being more likely than IBD.

 

 

Inflammatory bowel disease appears to occur in males and females at roughly the same rate, although some studies have suggested that there may be slightly higher incidence in females. If such a difference exists, it is likely to be minor and of no real significance.

 

 

Although they are generally thought to be diseases that are found more frequently in developed countries, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis have been observed in every ethnic group that has been specifically studied. There do appear to be some interesting differences between countries, as well as between ethnic groups within a given country.

 

These diseases are much less common in Asia, but this may be changing. In Japan, for example, Crohn's disease was almost unheard of 50 years ago, but there appears to have been a steady increase in the incidence since then. The incidence in the Jewish population is among the highest of any ethnic or racial group. However, within the Jewish population there appears to be a difference in incidence depending upon the country of origin. In one study, the incidence of IBD was higher in Jews of Ashkenazi (European) descent than in Jewish populations of Sephardic (Northern African and Middle Eastern) descent.