Ibs - Irritable Bowel Syndrome

IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is characterized as a common disorder of the intestines with symptoms of cramps, excessive gas, bloating, diahrrea, and constipation. Many patients diagnosed with IBS, suffer from at least two or three of these symptoms. More people suffer from IBS than either asthma or diabetes. Douglas A. Drossman, M.D., of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill was reported saying, “That in about 65 percent of the population with IBS, the condition isn't severe enough to prompt them to see a doctor”. This means that there are a large number of people who have IBS who don’t even know they have it.

Doctors have misdiagnosed IBS for years, labeling it as a form of disease of the colon. Such a diagnosis is inaccurate because colitis causes inflammation and IBS does not. What actually causes ulcerative colitis is unknown, and while there are theories none so far have been proven. The most popular theory is that the body's immune system reacts to a virus or a bacterium by causing ongoing inflammation in the intestinal wall. People with ulcerative colitis have abnormalities of the immune system, but doctors do not know whether these abnormalities are a cause or a result of the disease.

What we know about ulcerative colitis is that it is not caused by emotional distress or sensitivity to certain foods or food products, but these factors may trigger symptoms in some people. Such factors are also found among IBS sufferers. However unlike IBS, ulcerative colitis may also cause problems such as arthritis, inflammation of the eye, liver disease (hepatitis, cirrhosis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis), osteoporosis, skin rashes, and anemia. Scientists think these complications may occur when the immune system triggers inflammation in other parts of the body. Some of these problems go away when the colitis is treated.

The reason for this theory that IBS is a form of colitis is because the irritation takes place in the colon as fecal materials pass through on their way toward the anus. The contractions and movement of materials through the colon is called colon motility. These contractions are controlled by nerves and hormones, and by electrical activity in the colon muscle. Researchers have found that the colon muscle is more easily stimulated amongst IBS patients, causing them more frequent and painful spasms.

One of the main symptoms of IBS is abnormal bowel habit. Someone with a healthy digestive tract should remove bowel that isn’t hard, containing no blood, and that passes without pain. A sufferer of IBS usually associates bowel movement with abdominal pain, the passing of mucus with their bowels, and constipation or diarrhea.

IBS in general has been estimated to occur in 15-30% of the female population, and this illness is not uncommon in males. IBS generally occurs in two types: diarrhea predominant or constipation predominant. It also can occur at a variety of severity levels ranging from general discomfort to debilitating.

Although IBS-D (the type of IBS in which the patient suffers from diarrhea) is viewed as a non-fatal disease, its effects are often debilitating. The typical sufferer of IBS-D is a 40-year old female with primary symptoms including multiple and daily explosive diarrhea attacks and severe daily abdominal discomfort. The most common secondary side effects include panic attacks, depression, withdrawal from social and family activities, severe disruption of daily activities and mal-nutrition.

In children and adolescents, IBS affects girls and boys equally and may be diarrhea-predominant, constipation-predominant, or have a variable stool pattern.

Children with IBS may also have headache, nausea, or mucus in the stool. Weight loss may occur if a child eats less to try to avoid pain. Some children first develop symptoms after a stressful event, such as teething, a bout with the flu, or problems at school or at home. Stress does not cause IBS, but it can trigger symptoms.

IBS is usually diagnosed after doctors’ rule out any disease. They must rule out any diseases first because IBS is not a disease. The doctors must also rule out any psychological disorders. The reason for this is because until recently, IBS was thought to be simply a “nervous” disorder and not taken as seriously as it deserved. While IBS will not kill you, it is far more than just a nuisance

Some physicians traditionally have considered the symptoms to be mostly psychological because they could not find something physically wrong to explain the trouble. Others, like Howard Spiro, M.D., a retired Yale University School of Medicine professor, worry that the catch-all term "IBS" has become a marketing tool that will send thousands of basically healthy people running to their doctors demanding prescriptions. Spiro, who continues his practice as a consulting gastroenterologist, believes