The results of the first study that evaluates the incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases in the pediatric population, shows that The number of children diagnosed with any of these conditions has increased from 80 to 117 cases annually (between 1996 and 2009).
The most prevalent inflammatory bowel disease in children is Crohn's disease, it is also the one that has increased the most in recent years. The study has been coordinated by the Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition section of the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital. It has participated 78 centers throughout Spain.
Inflammatory bowel diseases in children under 18
These diseases are diagnosed at an average age of 12 years, and there are more cases in boys (56.4%) than in girls
Inflammatory bowel diseases are caused by a chronic inflammation in the intestine that causes, among other symptoms, abdominal pain, diarrhea, rectorrhagia and weight loss. Children who suffer from them require periodic medical check-ups, enter the Hospital with some frequency and must receive a pharmacological treatment for life.
The set of pathologies encompassed in inflammatory bowel disease, is headed as I have already commented on Crohn's disease, and they are also among them the ulcerative colitis and indeterminate colitis, which are autoimmune and chronic. It is a problem that affects about 2,200,000 people of all ages in Europe.
The authors of the mentioned work have studied the 2,107 cases of inflammatory bowel disease diagnosed in children during the specified period and in the participating hospitals.
In 2010, the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital created the first State unit that offers comprehensive care to children with inflammatory bowel diseases. The professionals who work in it aim to offer their patients an attention that goes beyond treating purely medical aspects and also includes nutritional, psychological, social and family aspects.
They offer them and their family the necessary training so that they are able to identify the first symptoms of an outbreak and, in this way, the necessary measures can be put in place to control it as soon as possible.
In general I think we all perceive the increase in diseases of the digestive system in recent years. More serious is the appearance of an inflammatory bowel disease. In the case of children, the data produced by the SPIRIT study determine that currently 250 new diagnoses are being detected per year.
SPIRIT also details the decline perception of the quality of life that patients have, due to the costs for physical and psychological well-being.
Thus, the study reveals that, in general, patients have a very low perception of the quality of life, due to the great physical and psychological impact caused by the disease.
