Inflammatory bowel disease in the elderly

Roughly 15% of all patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) first dev elop symptoms after age 65. As the number of elderly in the population cont inues to grow, clinicians should see a greater number of elderly IBD patien ts. In general, the presenting features of IBD are similar to those encount ered in younger patients, but the broad differential diagnosis of colitis i n the elderly can make definitive diagnosis more challenging. Whereas most therapies for IBD have not been studied specifically in the elderly, as a g eneral rule, medical and surgical treatment options are the same irrespecti ve of age. Osteoporosis, a condition generally associated with aging, shoul d be managed aggressively in patients with IBD because many older persons a lready have a substantial baseline risk for accelerated bone loss.