What is IBS?

Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS is a common, chronic condition that affects the quality of life of thousands of people. In fact, affects a third of the population at one time or another, and one in ten of us is sufficiently uncomfortable to go to the doctor about it. The embarrassment factor prevents many from seeking help or advice, but there’s plenty of help available and no shame in asking for it.

IBS is also sometimes referred to as ‘ spastic colon. This is because the nerves controlling the muscles of the gastro-intestinal tract are overactive, causing muscle spasms in the colon. In this case the stroke becomes sensitive to a variety of different foods and stress-anxious feelings may trigger this reaction in the hypersensitive digestive tract. The result is usually abdominal pain and swelling and often a cycle of alternating constipation and diarrhea. Some of the other symptoms that can occur are rumbling stomach, an urgent need to empty the bowels and a feeling of incomplete emptying after using the toilet, sometimes even nausea and vomiting and loss of appetite. It is also known as ‘ mucous colitis ‘, even if IBS is the most common term.

IBS has some symptoms in common with Crohn’s disease more serious, but even if it isn’t as bad as this can still cause misery and exacerbate the depression that is often brought up. This cycle can be difficult to break. It is more common in women than men and may continue for months or years, if left untreated. As above, since many people do not seek help for IBS by a doctor, can go untreated for a long time. Sometimes they do not think their symptoms as connected in any way and put up with them as just an error in their digestive system.

IBS is essentially a catch-all term for various digestive disorders-collections is not inflammatory and should not be confused with irritable bowel disease, although they can often occur simultaneously with this more serious condition. There are three forms of IBS, dependent on where the various symptoms comes as most important: diarrhea-predominant (IBS-D), constipation-predominant (IBS-C) and IBS with alternating stool pattern (IBS-A). Most people try to relieve IBS symptoms to alter their diet and lifestyle and find out what works better than a process of trial and error. IBS is often self-diagnosed, but diagnosis must be confirmed by a physician or a gastroenterologist.