Hyderabad: Despite the high incidence of the disease, there is hardly any awareness among physicians and people alike about Inflammatory Bowel Disease mainly due to the associated taboo. Experts say that unlike cancer or heart disease IBD is a disease that remains behind closed doors and patients don’t like to talk about it.
The social costs of the disease are also much greater than cancer or any other disease, because it affects people at their most productive age. Dr D. Nageshwar Reddy, chairman, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, said, “There is lack of data on exactly how many people have been affected by IBD. We are now trying to get this data.”
Experts also say that the psychological costs of the disease are very high.
Dr Stephen Hanauer, professor of medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said, “Beyond the medical costs, the psychological costs of IBD are very high unlike something like rheumatoid arthritis, which affects people in their old age. IBD affects people when they are very young and lasts for a lifetime if not attended to early.”
The unique characteristic of IBD is that though it affects young children as well, the number of adults affected is far greater.
“It’s not that kids are not affected by IBD, but it is not as frequent as in adults,” Dr Susan Hutfless, assistant professor, John Hopkins Bayview medical Centre, said.
