|
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Definition
The word syndrome means a group of symptoms. IBS is a syndrome because it can cause several symptoms in addition to those mentioned, like cramping, bloating, gas, frequent urge to pass stools, sensation of incomplete evacuation etc.
There is persistent and recurring abdominal pain associated with passing of motion, change of bowel habit (diarrhea, constipation, or alternate diarrhea and constipation), etc. without any apparent cause.
IBS is the disorder of function, where bowel doesn't work, as it should. If one visualizes the bowel, it appears perfectly normal without any inflammation or other structural changes. In people with IBS, the intestines squeeze too hard or not hard enough and cause food to move too quickly or too slowly through the intestines.
There are many names--colitis, mucous colitis, spastic colon, spastic bowel, and functional bowel disease, irritable colon, and nervous colon. Most of these terms are inaccurate and refers to understanding of diseases at that particular time frame. Colitis, for instance, means inflammation of the large intestine (colon). IBS, however, does not cause inflammation of the bowel and should not be confused with another disorders like ulcerative colitis.
Incidence:
Around 20% of people suffer from this condition some time during their life time. It is the single most common reason for which people seek gastroenterologist’s opinion. The statistics state that people miss work for IBS and related disorders more than for anything else, except colds.
IBS though affect people of all ages and both the sexes; it is more common in young people; usually in late adolescence or early adulthood. The condition is almost two to three times common in females as compared to males.
Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome
The following are some of the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome :
Nature of illness:
Almost everything about IBS is totally dependent on the individual patient. For some, it is mostly during times of stress or crisis, and then subsides once the stressful event has passed. The duration of IBS is different for everybody. The symptoms come and go, being particularly severe at some times and absent at others.
To sum up, this is a chronic relapsing condition.
Effect on people in their Daily life:
It is more irritating, completely debilitating illness. it depends on the person and how he or she reacts to it and treats it. IBS can, however, be very painful and can severely affect a person's quality of life.
IBS and Stress
The key point is that IBS is strongly related to emotional stress and strain. Research on the psychosocial aspects of these disorders has yielded three general observations:
1. Psychological stress exacerbates gastrointestinal symptoms.
2. Psychological disturbances amplify illness experience and adversely affect health status.
3. Having a functional GI disorder like IBS impairs the quality of one’s life.
Homeopathic treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Even though the symptoms of IBS can be very painful and debilitating in some, one should know that this is never a life-threatening condition. Those afflicted with IBS do not have any greater chances of developing inflammatory conditions of bowel like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, neither do they pose any higher risk of having colon cancer. Moreover this disease cannot be passed to other individuals like some of the infections may have chance to do so. Since it has lot of psychology based cause, homeopathy works precisely and very effectively.
|
