The Tissue:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, also known as IBS, is a pretty common disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. According to Web MD, it affects nearly 55 million people in the US, mostly women. Go figure…

I learned, through researching this syndrome, that your intestinal tract is surrounded by muscles that expand and contract to help move food and waste through your intestines. People who have IBS tend to have inconsistent movements of these muscles which means the food moves through the intestines too fast or too slow, causing diarrhea or constipation. Sometimes the term spastic colon (spasms in the colon are strong muscle contractions) is used.

The most common symptoms are: cramping, abdominal pain, bloating gas, mucus in the stool, constipation and diarrhea. Not everyone presents with all of the symptoms and some have alternating symptoms.

IBS is mostly a long term or chronic problem. Researchers have said that it does not lead to more serious diseases of the intestinal tract.

Some people who have IBS have very light symptoms and actually don’t even realize they have IBS. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIDDK, 50% of people who develop IBS do so before the age of 35.

Researchers have not yet discovered one single cause for IBS. The most common triggers of symptoms are, certain foods, stress levels, hormone changes and sometimes certain medication. A family history of IBS can also be a factor in why you develop IBS.

The entire intestinal/digestive tract is very closely linked to the nervous and the immune system, even more so in people with IBS. Through my research I discovered that the intestinal tract of people with IBS tends to become more hypervigilant (an increase in responsiveness to stimuli) of what the nervous system is experiencing, therefore reacting to stimuli more strongly than normal. This is also what I have noticed with myself.

More about IBS to come in future posts so stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!

These are the websites where I researched IBS the most: MayoClinic.com, WebMD.com, niddk.nih.gov.