What is IBS? What is nervous stomach?
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or spastic colon is a very common disorder
of the intestine and can be a recurrent condition. It is characterized
by abdominal pain and constipation or diarrhea, or alternating bouts
of both. It is sometimes referred to as nervous stomach.
What symptoms can be associated with IBS?
What things can make it better?
Antispasmodics can relieve some of the muscular spasm. Restore balance
to your system. See your physician immediately for diagnosis and treatment.
Why did I get it?
It can be caused by stress or anxiety or intolerance of some foods
like wheat, cheese, corn or eggs. It can be caused by excess refined
foods and sweets or lack of dietary fiber. Your susceptibility to
get it can be caused by an imbalance in your system.
How do I prevent IBS from recurring?
Maintain a healthy diet. Reduce excess refined foods and sweets. Increase
dietary fiber. Minimize stress and anxiety. If you take the Balance Analysis
and find that there is an imbalance in your system, you can generally
restore balance through simple, natural methods that affect your food
choices and activity choices. You can do this by visiting an Ayurvedic
physician or by ordering a Personalized Report for Restoring Balance.
These methods will help your body's systems to function correctly.
Is IBS life-threatening?
No, however, IBS is serious. Patients with IBS have a higher rate of hospitalizations,
work absenteeism, feelings of poor quality of life, and abdominal surgeries
than healthy controls and patients with other gastrointestinal illnesses.
In the general population, people with IBS symptoms missed more than 3
times as many work days than did people without bowel symptoms.
What is the role of psychological and/or social factors in IBS?
Psychiatric diagnoses are present in 42-62% of IBS patients who have sought
medical consultation. In comparison, psychiatric diagnoses are present
in around 20% of patients with other gastrointestinal diagnoses. The majority
of these psychiatric diagnoses are cases of anxiety and depression. Other
common diagnoses include somatization disorder and hypochondriasis.
Stress can affect the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract of all
people, and particularly those with IBS. Several studies have shown that
IBS patients are more likely to report that stress changes their stool
pattern and leads to abdominal pain than people without bowel problems.
In one study 65% of IBS patients reported a severe stressful life event
prior to developing IBS. The kinds of psychological stressors often reported
by patients with IBS vary considerably, but include: loss of a parent
or spouse through death, divorce, or separation, and sometimes is accompanied
by feelings of unresolved grief, and also significant life changes which
demand many social and personal adjustments such as moving to a new job
or a new city.
What is the role of fiber therapy in IBS?
Fiber is the non-digested part of plant food and adds bulk to the stools
by absorbing water. There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble.
Soluble fiber dissolves in water and is found in oat bran, barley, peas,
beans, and citrus fruits. Insoluble fiber are found in wheat bran and
some vegetables. Fiber increases the transit time of the colon and decrease
the pressures within the colon. However, the role of fiber in the treatment
of IBS has not been well established. One study showed that the response
to bran in terms of daily stool weight, bowel frequency and symptoms was
determined more by pre-existing psychometric variables such as anxiety
and depression that the amount or nature of the bulking agent administered.
From our experience, however, patients with mild constipation predominant
IBS may derive some benefit.
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