The incidents of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in India is reportedly higher than other Asian countries like Japan and Korea. IBD is considered as an inappropriate immune response to the endogenous commensal microbiota within the intestines, with or without some component of autoimmunity said experts at a symposium on ‘Nutrition in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.’
The symposium was organised by the Nutrition Society of India, Chandigarh Chapter on Tuesday at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research. This was attended by 200 delegates. It focused on different aspects of IBD. Its epidemiology in the world including India, pathophysiology, extra-intestinal manifestations and nutritional therapeutic approaches were discussed in details.
One of the speakers explained that extraintestinal manifestations of IBD involve all organs — skin, eyes, joints, and biliary tract being commonly involved.
Another speaker focused on the role of nutrition in IBD by pointing out that lack of exclusive breast feeding in early infancy and early exposure to food antigens from dairy/cow’s milk can be one of the causes of IBD. The implications of the disease in children and also in adults are manifestations of multiple nutritional deficiencies, subsequent to poor intake, gut losses and malabsorption of various micronutrients said experts present on the occasion.
The session ended with the recommendation that nutritional management and supplementation of micronutrients entirely can be helpful for IBD patients in preventing malnutrition and improving quality of life in these patients.