Health-Plus-Homeopathic

What is Irritable bowel syndrome?

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder that affects the large intestine. It is also called mucus colitis or spastic colon or irritable colon. it is a functional disorder of the bowels which leads to the occurrence of a group of symptoms. The common symptoms include, increased gas, altered bowel habits either constipation or diarrhoea, intolerance to certain foods, and stomach bloating.

This disorder is considered to be chronic and needs long-term management.

Symptoms

The symptoms of IBS typically include:

Constipation
Diarrhea (often described as violent episodes of diarrhea)
Cramping in abdomen,usually in the lower half of the belly, that get worse after meals and feel better after a bowel movement
abdominal pain on and off
bloating of abdomen and gas formation
Stress can make symptoms worse
Some people also have urinary symptoms or sexual problems

It’s not uncommon for people with IBS to have episodes of both constipation and diarrhea. Symptoms such as bloating and gas typically go away after you have a bowel movement.

Symptoms of IBS aren’t always persistent. They can resolve, only to come back. However, some people do have continuous symptoms

There are four types of the condition.

There is IBS with constipation (IBS-C)
IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D).
Some people have an alternating pattern of constipation and diarrhea. This is called mixed IBS (IBS-M).
Other people don’t fit into these categories easily, called unsubtyped IBS, or IBS-U.

Causes

Although there are many ways to treat IBS, the exact cause of IBS is unknown. Possible causes include an overly sensitive colon or immune system. Postinfectious IBS is caused by a previous bacterial infection in the gastrointestinal tract.

there are some common factors responsiblefor developing IBS. The factors include:

GI Motility Problems: Motility (movement) of the food through your gastrointestinal tract. When the motility in the colon gets affected, that is either slow or too fast, IBS occurs. If the motility is slow you experience constipation, and when it is fast you experience diarrhea. Usually, the stress in the stomach is felt immediately after eating food.

Certain Foods: Some foods are known to cause IBS symptoms. Patients sometimes complain of aggravation in symptoms after consuming certain foods such as fatty foods, spicy foods, beans, cauliflower, cabbage, milk and dairy products, chocolate, and alcohol.

Genetics : This disorder is often seen to run in families.

Hormones : Women are seen to suffer more from IBS than men, and especially complain of aggravation in the symptoms during the monthly menstrual cycles.

Stress : Whenever there is a disturbance in the balance of mind, body, and brain, stress occurs.Excessive anxiety, fear, anger, or depression can trigger changes in the brain and stimulate exaggerated gut responses.

How homeopathy helps?

Homeopathy acts at root level such as coping up with emotional stress, helping in management of stress, balancing gut motility, hormonal disturbance or reaction to certain foods.