Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) Diagnosis & Treatment

What is IBS?

Irritable bowel syndrome, popularly known as IBS, is a chronic relapsing intestinal disorder, i.e. relapsing, of unknown cause and is characterized by abdominal pain accompanied by diarrhea, constipation or both alternating symptoms.
Currently the causes of this disease are not known, which are triggering changes in bowel motility and sensitivity of the intestinal mucosa. It is believed to have an important psychological factor, namely stress, anxiety and nervousness may be triggering episodes of irritable colon. Although there have also been proposed causes of hormonal type of food intolerance (different for each patient) or genetic.

Symptoms of IBS:

IBS is a disorder that can occur at any age, but the most common is to do it in adolescence or early adulthood. It is more common in women.
It is a syndrome with a high variability of symptoms, although there is one that is common to all patients, abdominal pain. This can be accompanied by constipation, diarrhea, and alternating, abdominal distension, bloating or feeling of incomplete evacuation.
It is a chronic disease; there are patients who often have exacerbations by the presence of triggers, which can last a few days or weeks and then improve; and some patients may have symptoms of more or less continuously.

Many patients often also have problems with anxiety or depression.

There is no test or exam to diagnose IBS. The doctor, with the explanation of symptoms, prompted tests to rule out other gastrointestinal diseases and above normal in all of them, and with a complete medical history diagnose the syndrome.

How to cure Irritable bowel syndrome:

Disregarding the cause, it is impossible to give treatment to prevent the disease. The treatment is aimed at alleviating the symptoms of each patient, so it will be individualized for each, and it is up to the gastroenterologist.

Here we are going to give a series of tips and dietary measures to minimize exacerbations and the severity of their symptoms:

- Low in fat and high in protein (meat and fish) diet.

- Avoid foods that each patient feels that trigger or worsen their symptoms. Those who most often lose out are: spices, alcohol, tonic soups envelopes, cocoa, dairy products, cheeses, pastries, cakes, ice cream, butter...

- Avoid fizzy drinks and flatulent foods such as chickpeas, lentils, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, onions , leeks , peas , nuts and canned.

- Avoid heavy meals, eat slowly and chew well.

- Keep a regular schedule of meals, and try to evacuate always at the same time, unhurried, preferably after breakfast.

- Exercising appropriate age (walking, swimming) and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.

- Abdominal pain can be relieved by applying mild local heat.

- Avoid using laxatives.

- Avoid, if possible, the situations that produce stress or nervousness.

Take care of your intestines:

The intestines are an essential part in our body, as fulfill several important tasks: break all leftover food so that nutrients are easily absorbed, it removes harmful elements, among others.
However, on more than one occasion the intestines are affected and we need to debug them. To know when to do it, it is necessary to detect problems such as:

Halitosis
Heartburn or reflux
Heaviness
Bad digestion
Diarrhea
Gases
Headache
Insomnia

You can read more about Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) on

Webmd: Irritable Bowel Syndrome

NHSChoices: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)