What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS is a medical condition of the digestive system. It is characterized by recurrent loose bowel movements, constipation and pain in the abdominal region. Spasms or cramps may also be noted.
What causes Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
Age – infants are mostly affected by this condition and they are usually 6 months to 1 and 1.5 years old. This is due to the fact that this age group has a low fat intake, and because of this, the stool is rapidly passed through the bowel.
Diet – excessive fluid intake, diet pills and laxative abuse can speed up the colon movement.
Allergy or food sensitivity – can be from milk (lactose intolerance) or other food groups that irritate the stomach.
Smoking and alcohol use – both are bowel irritants that can cause IBS.
What are the signs and symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
Abdominal pain – recurrent, can be moderate to severe kind of pain, with some cramps.
Stool – loose or watery stools and constipation may also be experienced.
Weight loss – due to constant loss of electrolytes.
Disturbed sleeping pattern – caused by pain and discomfort in the abdomen.
Growths or masses in the stomach or intestines – may cause an alteration in the bowel movement that can result to IBS.
How to cure Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
Change in the diet is one of the ways to test whether the bowel irritability is from food sensitivity or not. This may include eliminating milk from the diet for assessment whether it is simply lactose intolerance or otherwise.
In order to supply calcium to the body, calcium supplements may be taken and soya milk may be recommended compared to dairy milk.
Many foods or pills can be bowel irritants like diet pills and laxatives. Diet teas and other weight loss tablets are irritants because they speed up the movement of the intestines to empty the bowel right away.
A diet low in fat is recommended for irritable bowel syndrome. Eat small frequent meals instead of 3 huge ones. You may base your daily food intake with the aid of the Food Pyramid Guide.
Quitting the use of tobacco will greatly help in this medical condition. Tobacco contains chemicals that are harmful to the body.
Antidiarrheal medicines may be prescribed, as this reduces the motility (or movement). Another class of medicines called Antispasmodics may also be given to reduce abdominal spasms and/or pain.
If there are growths or masses found in the digestive track, this will be removed with the prescription medicines to eliminate it or this can be removed by surgical interventions.