Irritable Bowel Syndrome »
What is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)?
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common ailments of the
bowel (intestines) and affects an estimated 15% of persons in the US. The term,
irritable bowel, is not a particularly accurate one since it implies that the bowel
is responding irritably to normal stimuli, and this may or may not be the case.
The several names for IBS, including spastic colon, spastic colitis, and mucous
colitis, attest to the difficulty of getting a descriptive handle on the
ailment. Moreover, each of the other names is itself as problematic as the term
IBS.
IBS is best described as a functional disease. The concept of functional
disease is particularly useful when discussing diseases of the gastrointestinal
tract. The concept applies to the muscular organs of the gastrointestinal tract;
the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, gallbladder, and colon. What is meant
by the term, functional, is that either the musc...
Read the Irritable Bowel Syndrome article »