Despite being one of the most commonly diagnosed problems in the country, there are still a lot of misinformation about irritable bowel syndrome, or what doctors call succinctly as IBS.
It may come as a surprise but irritable bowel syndrome actually affects one out of five people in the United States. These statistics translate to about 20 percent of the population. That is a pretty high prevalence considering that not much is known about the disease and misdiagnosis or even under diagnosis is possible.
Experts agree that numbers can still go up if people are made aware about the problem. Because the symptoms are quite common, and nothing much is known about irritable bowel syndrome, most people will mistake IBS for another problem.
Unlike other diseases that may be caused by an organism, bacteria or virus, irritable bowel syndrome is not caused by anything and if it caused by something. medical experts have no discovered that fact. In truth, doctors are stumped on what exactly starts off irritable bowel syndrome. One theory is that the large intestines of patients suffering from the illness are overly sensitive, as to what made it extra sensitive no one knows. Because of the extreme sensitiveness, the smallest and most minor of changes are recorded. The body will then react to these changes in the form of problems in the bowel movements.
There are some factors that trigger the exacerbation of the problem but are not considered as direct cause. One of them is stress. Stress changes a lot in the body system because the body compensates for the change. Stress is already known to wreak havoc to the systems of the body. Another suspected culprit is milk and milk products that are known to cause problems in the digestive track especially if one is lactose intolerant. There are also some food items that are said to trigger the problem.
Remember though that these three are not causes but rather factors that can trigger an already existing condition. There is a vast difference between these two.
Perhaps because there is no known cause, there is also no prescribed treatment for the problem. Rather doctors are free to recommend any course of treatment that they feel will benefit the patient. Most often, doctors will prescribed a medicine that contains fibers to help ease the constipation. Some doctors however will stick to the natural way by prescribing a diet that contains food items that have natural fibers.
