Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 7, 2017; 23(37): 6788-6801
Published online Oct 7, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i37.6788
Epidemiological and clinical perspectives on irritable bowel syndrome in India, Bangladesh and Malaysia: A review
M Masudur Rahman, Sanjiv Mahadeva, Uday C Ghoshal
M Masudur Rahman, Department of Gastroenterology, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Sanjiv Mahadeva, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Uday C Ghoshal, Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow 226014, India
Author contributions: Rahman MM reviewed the literature and wrote the first draft of the paper; Mahadeva S contributed to writing the paper and edited it; Ghoshal UC conceived the idea, reviewed the literature and contributed to writing the paper and edited it extensively.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors has any conflict of interest to declare in relation to the paper.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Uday C Ghoshal, MD, DNB, DM, FACG, RFF, FNAMS, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science, Lucknow 226014, India. udayghoshal@gmail.com
Telephone: +91-522-2494405 Fax: +91-522-2668078
Received: June 23, 2017
Peer-review started: June 26, 2017
First decision: July 27, 2017
Revised: August 23, 2017
Accepted: September 13, 2017
Article in press: September 13, 2017
Published online: October 7, 2017
Processing time: 96 Days and 19.5 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: The epidemiology, clinical presentation and management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may vary in different geographical regions due to differences in diet, gastrointestinal infection and infestations, socio-cultural and psycho-social factors, religious and illness beliefs, symptom perception and reporting. Asia is geographically and socio-demographically diverse. In this context, India, Bangladesh and Malaysia share some similarities: (1) large population living in rural areas; (2) rapid development and associated lifestyle changes in urban areas; and (3) dietary, cultural and religious practices. The present review aims to explore clinical and epidemiological data on IBS from these three major nations in South and South-East Asia.