[CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES – SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF FAMILY PHYSICIAN CARE]

Patients with chronic inflammatory bowel diseases have lower quality of life compared to general population. Aside from disease symptoms, the quality of life is additionally lowered by frequent admissions, more frequent follow up, and the like. From a long term perspective, problems also arise in patients worrying about the disease outcome, fear from developing a malignant disease arising from chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and family planning. The purpose of this article is to present some of the specific situations faced by people with chronic inflammatory bowel disease and review the state-of-the-art in the field of providing care for people with chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The following specific problems are tackled: chronic inflammatory bowel disease in children/adolescents, pregnancy, chronic inflammatory bowel disease and nutrition, surgery, psychosocial factors and inflammatory bowel disease, and self-help. The role of family medicine consists not only of helping diagnosing the disease as early as possible in order to enable early treatment, but also to advise patients how to live with the disease and offer answers to their questions arising from everyday life with the disease.