08 Dec 2017 --- Countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America have seen a rise in incidence of inflammatory bowel disease as they have become increasingly industrialized and Westernized, a new study has found. The research – a collaboration between the University of Birmingham, UK, the University of Calgary, Canada, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong – is described by the University of Birmingham as the most definitive and comprehensive study of the global epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease.