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©2008 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 28, 2008; 14(36): 5491-5498
Published online Sep 28, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.5491
Published online Sep 28, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.5491
Inflammatory bowel diseases: A disease (s) of modern times? Is incidence still increasing?
Cristina Saro Gismera, Service of Digestive Diseases, Hospital de Cabueñes, Gijón, Spain
Beatriz Sicilia Aladrén, Service of Digestive Diseases, Alcañiz Hospital, Spain
Author contributions: Saro C and Sicilia B contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Beatriz Sicilia Aladrén, Service of Digestive Diseases, Alcañiz Hospital, Dr. Repolles 2, 44600 Alcañiz, Teruel, Spain. bsicilia@salud.aragon.es
Telephone: +34-97-8830100 Fax: +34-97-8830977
Received: July 30, 2008
Revised: August 6, 2008
Accepted: August 13, 2008
Published online: September 28, 2008
Revised: August 6, 2008
Accepted: August 13, 2008
Published online: September 28, 2008
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are a heterogeneous group of diseases, not always easy to diagnose, even more difficult to classify, and diagnostic criteria are not always uniform. Well done population-based studies are not abundant, and so comparisons among different geographical areas or populations are not always very reliable. In this article, we have reviewed epidemiological studies available on the world’s population while making a critical review of published data.