Irritable Bowel Syndrome – What is It?

Irritable bowel syndrome is a problem characterized by a dysfunction on the bowel system of the body. As the name will suggest, the disorder largely affects the bowel or the part of the body, which regularizes the storing and excretion of wastes. The large intestine come to mind but there are a host of other parts of the digestive system that may be affected in the long run. It is called a syndrome instead of dysfunction, mainly because irritable bowel syndrome has a number of different syndromes and not just one.

Irritable bowel syndrome or IBS,as it is called by most medical doctors, causes either constipation or diarrhea depending on the reaction of the body to the stressor. Because excrements are not regularly funneled out of the body, bloating and cramping may also occur. It is also not surprising that gas problems will also ensue after some time.

One point to clarify is that IBS is not a disease caused by bacteria or viral infection. It is only a disorder in the body, which may be caused by a number of things. According to experts, IBS is often brought on by nerves and muscles in the bowel system that has become very sensitive to stimulation, too sensitive. This means that the littlest movement or stimulation can trigger the muscles to contract too much. This can lead to diarrhea, even though you have not really eaten anything spoiled. Nerves may also be very sensitive and this can lead to cramping and extreme pain in the stomach. The pain according to depictions from patients are often dull, gas-like and non-descript. What is sad though is that pain will only disappear when the person has finally excreted the bowel.

Although the term IBS is not as popular as perhaps most of the diseases in the medical field, it is one disorder that people often suffer from albeit a milder version. This is actually a problem with IBS. People do not actually recognize the problem since the symptoms are pretty mild. Some will even assume that it is something that they ate. One problem with IBS is that there are no diagnostic tests that can support a physicians diagnosis of IBS. Unlike other problems, diagnosis will only rely on the symptoms that the patient will describe.

Still there are cases when the symptoms are so severe especially the pain and the constipation that people will go to the doctor for treatment. There is really no age or gender factor when it comes to risk. Almost anyone can suffer from this kind of dysfunction.

Information on Irritable Bowel Syndrome

A lot of people have experienced having to go to the bathroom because of an upset stomach. Its all too common to feel that they need to go every once in a while (in their case more than once in a while) but relieving themselves are not the single best way to cure their pain. People have mostly related this feeling to Loose Bowel Movement or LBM, but there are cases that a person experiences having to go to the bathroom and being constipated at some other occasion. The misconception is the have either constipation or LBM but the truth is they have both. Constipation and LBM on the same occurrence is a nightmare but it happens and a lot of people are encouraged to look for information on Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome is fairly hard to classify. The symptoms involved with the disease are fairly hard to recognize because it involves constipation and LBM. People looking for a cure or a support line for the sickness would be at a dead end once they start looking for it in the wrong places.

The best way to know information on IBS is to look into how your gastrointestinal tract works. Our intestines move the food down our body by pushing it down, this is called propulsion. There are also stops in the movement called segmentation. The combinations of the movements make up peristalsis. When there is an abnormal pause or uncoordinated movement in the intestines it also causes abnormal movement of bowel. When there is too much propulsion inside the body, we experience Loose Bowel Movement. So, when there is too much segmentation in the intestines there is Constipation.

Easy to remember right? But how do we look into the causes of IBS? IBS occurs when the intestines also have a misunderstanding in the motion. The gastrointestinal motion sequence is either altered or a psychological event triggers a physiological disruption of nerve signals sent to the intestines causing them to move in uncoordinated rhythms. These triggers are often the cause of IBS. Anger, depression, bereavement and even failure can cause IBS. Mostly adults experience IBS because of the social and economic pressures that are placed upon them. Mostly parents, young professionals and even country leaders experience IBS once in a while.

IBS is not a curse, the pain and the inconvenience it causes surely is a burden but there are cures that are available for people suffering from it.