Canada touts one of the highest childhood-onset inflammatory bowel disease incidence rates in the world, and it's getting worse, MedPage Today reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. Eric Benchimol, MD, of Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario's Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre, and colleagues reported that overall incidence rate per 100,000 children increased from 7.9 in 1999 to 10.6 in 2008.
2. The IBD incidence rate among children under 5-years-old increased 7.2 percent every year between 1999 to 2010.
3. The increasing rates in children 5-years-old and younger is alarming, Dr. Benchimol said to MedPage, because the children will have to utilize healthcare services throughout adulthood.
4. Researchers believe "a change in the bacterial composition of the gut may be responsible for the increase in IBD cases."
5. Study limitations include potential misclassification bias and time period of available data.