Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS, is a disorder which is characterized by chronic abdominal cramps, pain, alternating constipation and diarrhea, bloating and changed bowel movements. Several conditions may be the causative factors for IBS, although pin pointing a specific cause is not possible or the same is unknown. IBS is usually the precipitant event of abnormal interactions between abdomen, brain and the nervous system or due to the presence of various pathogens.
IBS symptoms may start showing following an infection or other diseased condition and in a few cases, there may not be any visible symptoms as such. IBS does not have any permanent cure and the treatment procedure only attempts to relieve the symptoms of pain and discomfort. Considering all these factors about IBS, it is important to know about the classification of IBS that is most commonly prevalent.
Types of IBS
In a broader sense, there are four types of IBS that has been classified. They are as follows:
- IBS-D or Diarrhea predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome
In this kind of IBS, the onset of chronic diarrhea is the major constituting factor for development of IBS. - IBS-C or Constipation predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome
The IBS-C is mostly characterized by painful bowel movements due to chronic constipation. - IBS-A or Alternating stool pattern Irritable Bowel Sydrome
IBS-A is differentiated by alternating patterns of passing stool which is not in conjuncture with the normal bowel movements. - IBS-PI or Post Infectious Irritable Bowel Syndrome
The IBS-PI usually sets in following the infective state due to various factors including pathogens or other sources of the infection.
What Causes IBS?
1. Sensitive intestine
A number of various factors can be the cause of development of IBS. For instance, even if there is no notable problem with the structure of the intestine, there might be a problem with the intestinal muscle or the intestine can be very sensitive to the stretching movements of the intestine.
2. Infection
As was pointed out earlier, the infection due to various causes can also be another leading cause of IBS, more commonly the type IBS-PI. It is often a common hypothesis that gastrointestinal infection can be a leading cause of IBS. A few researches related to the link between infection and IBS, suggest that the patients suffering from IBS have manifold increase in the intestinal microflora due to which the problems related to IBS may surface sooner.
3. Stress
Stress is yet another major hypothetical cause of IBS. Physiologically, the colon is directly connected to the brain through a series of intertwining nerves of the autonomic nervous system. When there is increased mental or physical stress in the body, these nerves send signals to the colon for contracting beyond the required limit and hence resulting in IBS. It has been observed by scientists that stress aggravates the IBS condition.
Signs and symptoms of IBS
1.Abdominal discomfort
The symptoms of IBS can vary from mild to severe. Most often, abdominal discomfort, pain, cramping, distention and bloating are the notable symptoms. These symptoms, which are abdomen specific, usually present themselves either after meals, intermittently at frequent intervals or can subside after passage of stool.
2.Diarrhea or constipation
Another striking symptom of IBS is the prevalence of either constipation or diarrhea or the patient alternating between the two states.
The IBS patients suffering from diarrhea experience passage of watery stools very frequently and the urge for bowel movement is almost always uncontrollable. Whereas, IBS patients with constipation, experience infrequent bowel movement with a lot of difficulty accompanied by cramping and straining.
Observations show that the symptoms for a few patients subside or decrease after a few months while it may get enhanced among others.
3.Fatigue
Some other symptoms of IBS include those of chronic fatigue syndrome, backache, constant headache coupled with mental depression and anxiety. These symptoms might be confused with the diagnosis of other diseases due to which the symptoms for IBS are taken into consideration only if they are recurrent for over 6 months and without the presence of any other predominant disease.
IBS can affect people of any age group and is not restricted to a specific set of people. It is estimated that 1 in every 6 people in the United States of America, suffers from IBS. IBS is also prevalent among populations with higher consumption of spicy foods, though limited researches have indicated a possible link between the spice interference and bowel functioning.
