Irritable bowel syndrome

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder of the intestines that leads to crampy pain, gassiness, bloating, and changes in ... more about Irritable bowel syndrome.

Irritable bowel syndrome: Spasms in the colon wall. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Irritable bowel syndrome is available below.

Symptoms of Irritable bowel syndrome

• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Frequent bowel motions
• Abdominal colic
• Abdominal cramping

See full list of 22 symptoms of Irritable bowel syndrome

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Irritable bowel syndrome:

• Colon & Rectal Cancer: Home Testing
  • Home Colorectal Cancer Tests
  • Home Fecal Occult Bleeding Tests

Medical Textbooks Online about Irritable bowel syndrome

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Irritable bowel syndrome

• Physical exam
• Blood tests
• Stool sample
• Lower GI (gastrointestinal) series
• Endoscopy

See full list of 6 diagnostic tests for Irritable bowel syndrome

Wrongly Diagnosed with Irritable bowel syndrome?

• Misdiagnosis of Irritable bowel syndrome
• Failure to diagnose Irritable bowel syndrome
• Underlying causes of Irritable bowel syndrome (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Failure to diagnose Irritable bowel syndrome

Misdiagnosis and Irritable bowel syndrome

Chronic digestive conditions often misdiagnosed: When diagnosing chronic symptoms of the digestive tract, there are a variety of conditions that may be misdiagnosed. The best known, irritable bowel...read more »

Intestinal bacteria disorder may be hidden cause: One of the lesser known causes of diarrhea is an imbalance of bacterial in the gut, sometimes called intestinal imbalance. The digestive system contains a variety of "good"...read more »

Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely to cause some level of diarrhea in patients. The reason is that antibiotics kill off not only "bad" bacteria, but can...read more »

Food poisoning may actually be an infectious disease: Many people who come down with "stomach symptoms" like diarrhea assume that it's "something I ate" (i.e. food poisoning). In fact...read more »

Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the more feared conditions for a child with abdominal pain, it can be over...read more »

Celiac disease often fails to be diagnosed cause of chronic digestive symptoms: One of the most common chronic digestive conditions is celiac disease,...read more »

Chronic digestive diseases hard to diagnose: There is an inherent difficulty in diagnosing the various types of chronic digestive diseases. Some of the better known possibilities are peptic ulcer, colon...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Irritable bowel syndrome

Causes of Irritable bowel syndrome

• Emotional stress
• Bowel inflammation
• Lactose intolerance
• Fructose intolerance

Read more about causes of Irritable bowel syndrome

More information about causes of Irritable bowel syndrome:

• Triggers for Irritable bowel syndrome
• Underlying causes of Irritable bowel syndrome
• Irritable bowel syndrome as a symptom
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Irritable bowel syndrome

Treatments for Irritable bowel syndrome

• Diet changes
  • Avoid triggering foods
  • Low-fat diet
  • High-fiber diet
  • Fiber supplements

See full list of 20 treatments for Irritable bowel syndrome

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Patient Surveys for Irritable bowel syndrome

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Prognosis for Irritable bowel syndrome

Prognosis for Irritable bowel syndrome: Mostly good. Not usually serious or life-shortening although attacks are problematic and often recur.

More about prognosis of Irritable bowel syndrome

Reseach about Irritable bowel syndrome

Visit our research pages for current research about Irritable bowel syndrome treatments.

Clinical Trials for Irritable bowel syndrome

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Irritable bowel syndrome include:

• Phase 2 Study of MD-1100 Acetate on Gastrointestinal Transit in Patients With C-IBS - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - MD-1100 Acetate
• A Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacodynamics of DDP733 for IBS-c - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - DDP733
• Study Of Women With Severe Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome Having Failed Conventional Therapy - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Alosetron
• Investigation of the Safety and Efficacy of Renzapride in Constipation Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Renzapride
• Study In Women With Severe Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome Having Failed Conventional Therapy - This study is no longer recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - alosetron

See full list of 51 Clinical Trials for Irritable bowel syndrome

Statistics for Irritable bowel syndrome

• Medical statistics for Irritable bowel syndrome
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Irritable bowel syndrome
• Death and Mortality statistics for Irritable bowel syndrome
• Society statistics for Irritable bowel syndrome

Medical Guidebooks and Ebooks for Irritable bowel syndrome

• Icon Health Sourcebook for Irritable bowel syndrome

See all guides and ebooks for Irritable bowel syndrome

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Article Excerpts about Irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable Bowel Syndrome: NIDDK (Excerpt)

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder of the intestines that leads to crampy pain, gassiness, bloating, and changes in bowel habits. Some people with IBS have constipation (difficult or infrequent bowel movements); others have diarrhea (frequent loose stools, often with an urgent need to move the bowels); and some people experience both. Sometimes the person with IBS has a crampy urge to move the bowels but cannot do so.

Through the years, IBS has been called by many names--colitis, mucous colitis, spastic colon, spastic bowel, and functional bowel disease. Most of these terms are inaccurate. Colitis, for instance, means inflammation of the large intestine (colon). IBS, however, does not cause inflammation and should not be confused with another disorder, ulcerative colitis. (Source: excerpt from Irritable Bowel Syndrome: NIDDK)

IBS: NIDDK (Excerpt)

Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is a problem that affects mainly the bowel, which is also called the large intestine. The bowel is the part of the digestive system that makes and stores stool. The word syndrome means a group of symptoms. IBS is a syndrome because it can cause several symptoms. For example, IBS causes cramping, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation. (Source: excerpt from IBS: NIDDK)

Definitions of Irritable bowel syndrome:

A disorder with chronic or recurrent colonic symptoms without a clearcut etiology. This condition is characterized by chronic or recurrent ABDOMINAL PAIN, bloating, MUCUS in FECES, and an erratic disturbance of DEFECATION. - (Source - Diseases Database)

Recurrent abdominal pain and diarrhea (often alternating with periods of constipation); often associated with emotional stress - (Source - WordNet 2.1)

Irritable bowel syndrome is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Irritable bowel syndrome, or a subtype of Irritable bowel syndrome, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)