Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) consists of a number of symptoms. The most important symptoms in IBS are abdominal pain and abnormal bowel habit. Many patients with IBS get crampy abdominal discomfort or pain, which comes and goes, and is often relieved by emptying the bowels. The bowel habit is often irregular—sometimes diarrhea, sometimes constipation and quite often swinging between these two extremes. Some patients may notice they need to get to a bathroom in a hurry. Some patients present with abdominal fullness. Many patients notice that they lack energy and sleep poorly.
IBS is one of the most common disorders of the digestive system and up to one-third of the population experience symptoms from time to time. Women are slightly more affected than men and IBS is most often found in people under the age of 45. IBS is one of the most common reasons for patients to visit a Gastroenterologist in India. In turn it is also a very frequent reason for doctors to refer patients to a specialist in gastrointestinal disorders.
Causes of Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Many reasons lead to development of IBS condition. Some people notice IBS developing after they have had a bout of food poisoning or gastroenteritis. Some people believe that stress makes their symptoms worse. It seems probable, however, that there are other causes that are not yet known.
Types of IBS?
Some IBS patients suffer mostly from constipation, some experience diarrhea, while others have both symptoms at different times.
Identifying these different types of IBS is important because treatments of irritable bowel syndrome often work quite differently depending upon whether diarrhea or constipation is the main problem. However, we do know that the pattern of bowel movements can alter over time and this means that your IBS treatment might need to change should your symptoms vary.
Although the symptoms of IBS can be similar to those seen in more serious conditions, once IBS has been diagnosed there is no reason to think that it will develop into anything worse. In particular, patients with irritable bowel syndrome are no more likely than anyone else to develop bowel cancer.
Diagnosis of IBS
Most of the times the diagnosis of IBS is clinical. On occasion it may be necessary to do simple blood tests to rule out anemia, to make sure the liver and thyroid gland are working properly, and to exclude any evidence of inflammation within the bowel. Additional diagnostic tests may include a stool test, lower GI series, flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy.
IBS Treatment in India
Exclusion diet, which involves excluding from your diet a number of different foods that commonly upset patients with IBS can be tried. If symptoms improve, individual items can then be added back into your diet until the specific food or foods that seem to upset you are identified. If constipation is the main problem, then bulking agents such as natural bran fiber containing cereals, and products containing psyllium or fibres are helpful.
While antispasmodic medications are a longstanding treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) cramps, their effectiveness is limited. Despite being readily available over-the-counter and considered safe by pharmacists, these drugs only provide relief for a minority of IBS sufferers.
A healthy lifestyle may improve symptoms of IBS. Pay particular care to your eating habits and develop a regular routine for emptying your bowels. Foods that commonly cause upset include wheat products, dairy products, onions, nuts and caffeine-containing drinks such as coffee, tea and cola. Some patients cannot digest lactose (the sugar in milk) and so develop gas and diarrhea after eating large amounts of milk or dairy products.
