The Commonality Of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome or IBS is a disorder that focuses mainly on the digestive tract. There are many symptoms of this disorder and some can be debilitating while others are tolerable. Irritable bowel syndrome affects one out of every five American and this makes this disorder quite common. This digestive tract disorder has many causes and symptoms that can vary greatly from person to person.

Irritable bowel disorder can be disruptive to your daily life because it strikes anytime after you have eaten a particularly irritating meal or food. The effects can include constantly visiting of the restroom and also some discomfort and pain in the abdominal area.

Causes Of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

There are many theories regarding the cause of irritable bowel syndrome. Most of the theories focus on the large intestine being sensitive to several kind of foods which the person eats. Stress also plays a role in this disorder. Another possible cause of irritable bowel syndrome could be that the individual who suffers from this disorder does not have the normal motility or movement as other people. This makes your colon sensitive to different kinds or foods that can trigger a reaction. Other theories include sensitivity to gluten, abnormal reaction of the colon to serotonin and bacterial infection that may have triggered irritable bowel syndrome symptoms.

Manifestations of irritable bowel syndrome include chronic diarrhea and pain in the abdomen associated with the movement of the bowel. Most of the time, the pain and discomfort in the abdomen can be relieved by bowel movement. Other signs of irritable bowel syndrome disorder are a swollen stomach, whitish mucus in the feces, the feeling that you are not yet done with your bowel movement and sometimes, constipation.

Treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome

There is no one complete treatment of this particular digestive tract disorder but you can alleviate irritable bowel syndrome by making changes in your diet, relieving your stress and worries and also by taking medicine prescribed by your medical practitioner. The most highly recommended treatment is to be able to pick out the foods that you believe irritates your digestive tract. You can do this with a trial and error experiment. Make sure that you eat just one particular food at a time to be accurate regarding the testing.

Irritable bowel syndrome affects more people than you might think. Some people have just learned to deal with the disorder by following the recommended treatments by their medical practitioners while others take over the counter medication to ease the discomfort and the effects.