IBS essays

IBS essays IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is characterized as a common disorder of the intestines with symptoms of cramps, excessive gas, bloating, diahrrea, and constipation. Many patients diagnosed with IBS, suffer from at least two or three of these symptoms. More people suffer from IBS than either asthma or diabetes. Doctors have misdiagnosed IBS for years, labeling it as a form of disease of the colon. Such a diagnoses is inaccurate because colitis causes inflammation and IBS does not. What actually causes ulcerative colitis is unknown, and while there are theories none so far have been proven. The most popular theory is that the body's immune system reacts to a virus or a bacterium by causing ongoing inflammation in the intestinal wall. People with ulcerative colitis have abnormalities of the immune system, but doctors do not know whether these abnormalities are a cause or a result of the disease. What we know about ulcerative colitis is that it is not caused by emotional distress or sensitivity to certain foods or food products, but these factors may trigger symptoms in some people. Such factors are also found among IBS sufferers. However unlike IBS, ulcerative colitis may also cause problems such as arthritis, inflammation of the eye, liver disease (hepatitis, cirrhosis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis), osteoporosis, skin rashes, and anemia. Scientists think these complications may occur when the immune system triggers inflammation in other parts of the body. Some of these problems go away when the colitis is treated. The reason for this theory that IBS is a form of colitis is because the irritation takes place in the colon as fecal materials pass through on their way toward the anus. The contractions and movement of materials through the colon is called colon motility. These contractions are controlled by nerves and hormones, and by electrical activity in the colon muscle. Researchers have found that the colon muscle is more e...