Irritable bowel movement is a dysfunction in the bodys food excretion system that is characterized by pain and cramps in the stomach as well as diarrhea and constipation. IBS largely affects the large intestine, a part of the digestive system of the body that regulates the storage and the excretion solid body wastes.
Irritable bowel syndrome is classified under syndrome because it has a number of symptoms that must all be present before a diagnosis can occur unlike other body dysfunctions that may only manifest one symptom.
IBS is not a disease. It is not caused by a bacteria or virus that we have accidentally ingested. Rather irritable bowel syndrome is caused by an internal problem in the body. There is actually no primary cause that medical experts can pinpoint. All they know is that muscles in the large intestines become too sensitive to stimulation that they are easily irritated when digestion is ongoing. Because of this irritation, the body reacts to it by holding off the waste material or over excreting them.
Although stress is not actually a main cause of irritable bowel syndrome, the presence of many stressors can affect or trigger an episode of IBS. There are also some kinds of food that may trigger the problem when eaten.
The severity of the problem is actually different with each person. For most people, irritable bowel syndrome is actually an unheard of problem. The symptoms are often so mild that few people even consider it as a serious problem. Often, they dont even think that they have the dysfunction as they will largely dismiss the symptoms something they might have gotten from the food that they ate. Still there are some cases that the pain is so severe that the person can no longer take it on. These are the people that seek medical help for treatment.
Unlike the treatment of other diseases that has a specific cause, treatment of IBS is wide-range. Some doctors will initially prescribed a diet that is full of fiber to help combat the problem. This however can be a problem as most patients do not actually abide by the regimented diet. This is why most recommend the taking in of medications that contain fibers or those that are formulated to help people suffering from constipation. That way, people will be able to better follow with the prescribed treatment.
There are also some doctors who prefer therapies as they believe that irritable bowel syndrome is largely caused by emotional problems and stress that are transmuted to physiological problems. Others also perform acupuncture on the patient.
