An Update on Herbal Products for the Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Abstract: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn's Disease (CD), is a continuously increasing healthcare problem mainly characterized by chronic relapsing intestinal inflammation. The common symptoms of UC and CD include inflamma-tion, diarrhea, abdominal pain, bleeding, and weight loss. IBD is generally caused by an inter-action between genetic and environmental or microbial factors that influence the body's im-mune response and is responsible for digestive disorders and inflammation of the intestinal tract. However, a complete understanding of the pathophysiology and work-up of IBD is neces-sary to ensure appropriate treatment for the management of this complex disease. This review enlightens herbal therapeutics and drug delivery systems for the management of IBD, and thus provides new insights into this field and facilitates access to new treatments.