Categorized: Abstracts & Presentations, Gastroenterology

High Prevalence of Ulcerative Colitis in US Residents of Indian Origin

The prevalence of Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including both Crohn Disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) is reportedly high in Ashkenazi Jews, but it is believed to be very low in the population from South and East Asia.

Several reports summarized in a 2010 consensus meeting of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology suggest that, at least in Northern India, ulcerative colitis may be more common than previously suspected.

It is also unclear whether the reported low prevalence in Asia is real (due to genetic or environmental factors) or spurious (due to different awareness of the condition among physicians or their different interpretation of the endoscopic and histological features of CD and UC).

View the poster here.