IBS - What's The Latest?

My Weekly’s favourite GP from TV and radio writes for you.

- Dr Sarah Jarvis

Irritable bowel syndrome is a “functional” bowel disorder – there’s no specific problem with one part of the gut, but the various elements don’t work smoothly together.

Lifestyle changes and sometimes medication can go a long way towards keeping symptoms controlled.

Doctors aren’t sure what causes IBS, which affects 1 in 5 people at some time and a higher proportion of women. Causes include oversensitivity of the muscles or nerves of the gut; overgrowth of the wrong type of bacteria in the large bowel; a gut which is unusually sensitive to being stretched; and in some cases food intolerance. Bacterial infection isn’t the cause of IBS, but a tummy bug may trigger oversensitivity.