Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has had a chronic condition called ulcerative colitis from his teenage years. People with the disease suffer severe abdominal pain and persistent diarrhea, due to inflamed linings of the large intestine, NHK reports. Abe first became prime minister in 2006 at age 52 -- the youngest in postwar Japan. But he left office after about one year as he began to suffer severe symptoms. The sources say a follow-up exam one week later showed that his symptoms had eased with the use of medicine.

Source: The Standard August 28, 2020 07:30 UTC