IBS: Uncomfortable Times

There are certain topics we are more comfortable talking about than others. In this post we’re talking about an uncomfortable one mentally and certainly physically if you have it: IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

It’s estimated that 10-20% of the population of the world has irritable bowel syndrome. Theoretically that’s one of every five people listening in on this call today have problems with irritable bowel. It may be the most common syndrome that affects more people than anything else out there.

Some of us have different ideas and constructs about just what irritable bowel is so let me go over some of the ideas on that. First there’s abdominal pain even though there are a lot of things that cause abdominal pain. Discomfort and pain are the harbingers of IBS. Sometimes there is constipation and interestingly enough sometimes there is diarrhea. Even more interesting is that it alternates between constipation and diarrhea, sometimes in the same stool. Difficult to pass and infrequent bowel movements are common. People frequently have urgency with those which can be a significant problem if you at WalMart or out on a date or having a nice dinner. It can be very inconvenient. That is the major issue. It’s not only uncomfortable but it is inconvenient.

Like many things, as you’ve discovered while we’ve covered a number of different topics, we in the medical establishment don’t know what causes it and a lot of times we don’t know how to definitively treat it. Frequently treatments consist of mere symptom management and that is certainly true for irritable bowel syndrome. We don’t have a clue what causes it. We know some things that affect it. We know that dairy products bother some people, among other different foods, and there may be some allergy situations as well. Whole grains are indicated as a possible irritant. There are a lot of different ideas there but it doesn’t affect everybody the same so there is no definitive answer as to what to avoid. It’s mostly trial and error with each individual that has the syndrome.

There is good news too. It doesn’t really seem to change the structure or the function of the normal parts of the bowel. They don’t get changed like with Celiac Sprue or Crohn’s colitis or things like that. It’s not known to lead to other diseases. That’s also good news. While it is uncomfortable and inconvenient it is not known to lead to other serious problems.

So why does IBS happen? We’ll talk about the possibilities next post, so stay tuned.