What Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome? What Are Symptoms Of Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is as common as any bowel syndrome can be. You can guess from the name what is Irritable Bowel Syndrome disorder about. But it helps to know more. It has affected many people all over the world already.
IBS is a chronic disorder. This means progression in gradual, it may even span more than six months. It's primary focus is patient's bowel movement. It is difficult to become aware of the disorder as the symptoms of the syndrome are not that obvious during its progression. There are times when the symptoms go untreated because they are not obvious and are overlooked.
The question "What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?" doesn't have one definite answer. It is more important to understand the symptoms of IBS to answer What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
IBS symptoms affect the bowel and large intestine
Bowel is part of our body that stores and produces end product (stools) of all that passes our digestive system. Lot of people think IBS is a psychological disorder. The fact is, it is not.
It is a physical disorder. Studies show that IBS can affect anyone between 15 to 40 years age. IBS disorder can begin at any age and can afflict anyone. There is no perfect cure for IBS but there are methods to alleviate the symptoms of IBS.
Undergoing self-treatment may be dangerous as you may be doing more harm to yourself that curing the symptoms. It is good to be better educated about the symptoms of IBS. This way if you feel that you have the symptoms you can get help.
People with IBS usually have watery and very loose stools.
Their digestive system processes food way faster than it normally should, which explains watery stools. Constipation and Diarrhea are the primary symptoms. These symptoms are like opposite sides of the coin.
People with Diarrhea have urgency to empty bowels soon after eating, Specially after breakfast. Most people also have stomach pain along with Diarrhea. Their digestive system processes food faster than normal hence the urge to empty the bowels soon after eating.
People with Constipation have opposite symptoms than Diarrhea.
In this case the digestive system processes food slower than normal. Hence the bowel movement is very constricted.
Constipated people find it very difficult to excrete bowels.
Most people also have stomach pain along with these symptoms.
Stomach Pain is experienced more by women. It often gets mistaken for the menstruation pain. The pain can be mild or severe.
There are more symptoms as well: depression, back pain, nausea, groin pain, indigestion, sleep disturbances and vomiting. If you have experienced one or more of these for a while you should get help.
When it comes to gastrointestinal disorders, Irritable Bowel Syndrome is as common as any bowel syndrome can be. It is a chronic condition hence difficult to diagnose accurately. Hence it is important to know more about IBS Symptoms.
Two main symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome include Diarrhea and Constipation. They are 2 opposite sides of the same coin.
There can also be constant swings from one to another making it difficult to deal with it. If it was just constipation you could have taken a laxative and soothed your system effectively. But because of the swings from one symptom to another it is harder to deal with the symptoms.
There are other symptoms as well. Bloating is one of them. You would expect high levels of gas to go with bloating, on the contrary your gas levels just might be normal. You can expect to have abdominal pain with either Diarrhea or Constipation. The symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome can manifest for a month or two and then disappear for few months.
When the body is stressed out you may experience the symptoms of IBS. The symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome are also experienced during emotional disturbances. Hence there are few who belive Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a psychological disorder.
But the fact is that it is a physical disorder that affects your bowel and large intestines.
Symptoms of IBS are also very common to other diseases. Hence it is easy to mistaken them for something else. This makes it harder to get an accurate diagnosis. It is important to eliminate the possibility that patient has an organic disease or is lactose intolerant. Lab tests are needed to diagnose this.
Speicially the testing of fecal matter, X-Rays and even endoscopy.
Diet plays a major role in contributing to the Symptoms of IBS.
If Diet can cause the Symptoms, it can also cure the symptoms.
If you experience constipation then you could employ fiber rich foods. The goal of your diet should be to avoid the symptoms of IBS or at least bring them down to a tolerable level.
The IBS Symptoms do not really lead to other symptoms of more aggrevated nature as they don't cause any permanent damage to the patient in any way. It is very common for ages 15 and above, still it is not something people like to talk about.
By: Ravi Kuwadia
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CBC.ca
Washington Post
Market Wire (press release)
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