Inclusion Criteria:  Age: 18 years Gender: women and men Patients who have been diagnosed with IBD for at least 12 months patients who have signed an informed consent  Exclusion Criteria:  Pregnancy status Patients not suffering from the two main forms of IBD, i.e. CD or RCU (unclassified IBD colitis, collagenous colitis, lymphocytic colitis will be excluded).