World IBD Day 2021

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), most commonly crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, affect more than 5 million people worldwide. Currently, there is no cure to IBD, the cause of the disease is unknown and the diagnostic gold standard is an invasive and costly procedure. In recent years, stool diagnostics have emerged as a promising diagnostic tool for IBD. Calprotectin levels in stool correlate well with the severity of intestinal inflammation. Increased stool bile acid concentration can be a sign for bile acid malabsorption, which may cause diarrhoea in crohn's disease. Since stool diagnostics are a non-invasive and inexpensive procedure, both patients and health care systems can benefit alike.