1.5 million people in India suffer from Inflammatory bowel disease: Study
The simplest tip to follow is to stay away from items with WHITE colorings, such as maida, sugar, and salt, and choose instead healthy options like whole wheat flour, and raw cane sugar
By Newsmeter Network Published on 20 May 2023 6:28 AM GMT
Hyderabad: More than 1.5 million individuals in India are suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Twenty percent of all patients are children.
According to the study by AIG Hospitals in Hyderabad, 20% of IBD patients are children, which not only stunts their physical development but also negatively impacts their parents' emotional health.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease in India
IBD is characterized by recurrent diarrhea, stomach discomfort, unintentional weight loss, exhaustion, and rectal bleeding. However, diagnosing IBD can be complex since many other diseases, including TB, have the same symptoms.
Why is it rampant?
According to the Chief of Gastroenterology AIG Hospitals, Dr. D Nageshwar Reddy, they have conducted a large-scale survey throughout all of India to determine how nutrition affects patients with IBD.
"We discovered that it is blatantly obvious that individuals who consume processed foods, skip meals, and do not adhere to the recommended diet are more likely to continue to have IBD symptoms. Making these particular diets more pleasant is crucial since we also discovered that the majority of pediatric IBD patients are unable to follow the special diet” the doctor said.
Not the same as 25 years ago
Dr. Nageshwar Reddy opined that what looked like a disease of the West 25 years ago is now increasing at an exponential rate in our country, and the predominant reason can be attributed to the change that we have made in our dietary habits
Stay away from WHITE colored foods
During the study, Dr. Sesikeran Boindala, former director of the National Institute of Nutrition at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), identified that even plain wheat flour is a type of processed food. However, the concern is with highly processed foods like factory-made bread, chips, and even processed meat products.
"The simplest tip to follow is to stay away from items with WHITE colorings, such as maida, sugar, and salt, and choose instead healthy options like whole wheat flour, and raw cane sugar,", Sesikeran said.
Choose Gut-friendly foods
"The study was created in a systematic way to collect all the necessary information on the various foods and substances that IBD patients in India consume. We published the Gut-friendly Recipe booklet, which includes these updated South-Indian recipes because preliminary data does suggest that some classic South-Indian dishes are more suited for the gut” said Dr. Rupa Banerjee, Director – IBD Center, AIG Hospitals.
Left to Right: Dr Rupa Banerjee, Director, IBD Centre, AIG Hospitals, Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman of AIG hospitals, Dr Sesikeran, Former Director of National Institute of Nutrition launching the South Indian Diet book for IBD patients.
About IBD-ENC
The largest IBD patient support group in India is sponsored by AIG Hospitals, which has also developed the IBDENC (Emerging Nations' Consortium) platform for IBD research collaboration with more than 1000 medical experts from 25 different nations.
To expand the India IBD Support Forum to include more than 1300 IBD patients, they have launched Bangladesh IBD Support Forum. This will be run by IBD specialist Dr. Masudur Rahman from the Sheikh Russel Sheikh GastroLiver Institute & Hospital, Dhaka. Further, AIG Hospitals will offer technical help.
