"I had 60 centimeters of my small intestine removed."
Crohn's disease, which singer Yoon Jong-shin has reportedly lived with for more than 30 years, is no longer a rare condition in South Korea. Once seen largely as a Western illness, it is now spreading quickly across Asia, including Korea.
Crohn's Cases Rising Fast, More Than Half in Their 20s and 30s
A total of 33,238 patients sought hospital treatment for Crohn's disease in 2023, more than double the 16,138 recorded in 2013, according to data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service released on the 22nd.
Young adults made up the largest share. Patients in their 20s accounted for 31.2%, followed by those in their 30s at 25.1%. Those in their 40s came next at 15.3%, and teenagers at 15.1%.
Crohn's disease, along with ulcerative colitis, is one of the two main forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Inflammation can occur anywhere in the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus, causing abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody stools, fever and weight loss. The disease affects both the small and large intestine in 40% to 55% of cases, the small intestine alone in 30% to 40%, and the large intestine alone in 15% to 25%.
The exact cause remains unknown. Genetic factors, immune system abnormalities and environmental factors are believed to act in combination.
Yoon Jong-shin's 30-Year Battle: '60 Centimeters Removed'
Yoon, who has lived with the disease for decades, has said he suffered unexplained diarrhea and abdominal pain for years before finally being diagnosed.
The singer has said on television that he underwent surgery to remove about 60 centimeters of his small intestine after the disease caused it to narrow. On SBS's "Healing Camp" in 2012, he said his small intestine had become so narrow from Crohn's disease that 60 centimeters had to be cut out, explaining that he had experienced unexplained diarrhea and abdominal pain since middle school but was not diagnosed until his late 30s.
He recently disclosed a flare-up as well. In a social media post, Yoon said abdominal pain from the disease had returned after a long absence, forcing him to go home instead of eating with friends. "You came to me some 30 years ago, and I learned your name, Crohn's, 20 years ago. Now you feel like a friend — a nasty one," he wrote, describing his long illness.
As in Yoon's case, Crohn's disease often develops at a young age and requires management over many years. But researchers say the picture of inflammatory bowel disease in Korea is now changing, as newly diagnosed patients add to a growing population of long-term survivors.
Korea at 'Risk Level' as Fast Food, High-Fat Diets Spread
A research team led by Professor Seo Jung-kuk of the gastroenterology department at Chung-Ang University Hospital analyzed changes in the incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease over the past century across five parts of Asia — Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia — the hospital said on the 22nd.
Drawing on epidemiological data accumulated since the first case was reported in Japan in the 1920s, the team divided the spread of the disease into four stages: emergence, a sharp rise in incidence, accumulation of prevalence, and equilibrium.
The analysis found that prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease in Asia rose rapidly alongside changes in living conditions, including greater intake of animal fats and refined carbohydrates, Westernized eating habits such as fast food low in dietary fiber, improvements in environment and sanitation, and antibiotic use in infancy and early childhood.
Korea, where the incidence rose steeply from the 2000s onward, was assessed as being in the latter part of the sharp-rise stage, with both new and existing patients continuing to accumulate.
"Inflammatory bowel disease was once seen mainly as a Western illness, but patient numbers are now rising quickly across Asia, including in Korea," Seo told Newsis.
"In clinical practice, the patient population is becoming increasingly diverse and complex, with new diagnoses rising not only among young patients but also among older adults," the professor added.
The team recommended building infrastructure for early diagnosis and multidisciplinary care systems, providing treatment tailored to each stage of life from children and adolescents to older adults, and adopting reasonable drug pricing and reimbursement policies to ease the financial burden of expensive therapies such as biologics.
The findings were published in the latest issue of The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, an international journal in the field of gastroenterology.
