Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Overview and Management

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel diseases, mainly Crohn disease and Ulcerative Colitis have recently become more prevalent in the world. Since the pathology of IBD is still not completely clarified, a complete understanding of the disease progression and outcome is crucial in order to take the most appropriate steps towards treatment. This paper presents a background on IBD and its pathomechanism, the means of disease diagnosis and finally the pharmacological treatment options. The text is mostly focused on the old and new medical treatments of IBD and their diverse effects; the surgical management is only briefly mentioned.