Living Well With IBS: Strategies For A Healthier Gut
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is one of the most common digestive disorders in clinics and the community. If you are suffering from IBS, you may experience severe abdominal pain and cramps. People with IBS are generally between late teens and early forties. Women are more likely to suffer from IBS. IBS pathophysiology is known to be multifactorial because of genetic, dietary, gastrointestinal and central nervous system influences.
There are three types of IBS based on how your poop looks: (1) IBS with constipation (IBS-C) - hard and lumpy, (2) IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D) - loose and watery, (3) IBS with mixed bowel habit (IBS-M) - a combination of IBS-C and IBS-D. These differences help the clinicians to prescribe specific medications.
There are other symptoms you can suffer from like irregularity in poop formation, bloating, passing gas, and incomplete feeling of emptying bowels. This disorder is sadly connected to gut-brain interaction leading to gut muscles contracting more frequently. The extra sensitive nerves in your gut make you less tolerant to abdominal pain. Menstruators with IBS experience worsened symptoms during the menstrual cycle.
The symptoms of IBS not only manifest as gut issues but are also taxing on emotional health and wellbeing. The gut shows dysbiosis, mucosal inflammation, and changes in gut mobility. On the other hand it impacts the central nervous system i.e. visceral hypersensitivity (experiencing pain and discomfort in the soft, internal organs that live in your chest, abdomen and pelvic cavity) and gut-brain axis connected through vagus nerve impacted due to higher stress levels, decrease in quality of life and productivity.
Changes in the gut flora, prior infection, psychological stress, food sensitivity, glitch between brain and gut can lead to pathogenesis of IBS. Dairy products, calcium, gluten, aerated drinks, gas-producing foods, and high FODMAP (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) are the foods that trigger IBS symptoms, to which people are often allergic or intolerant. Stay away from them for gut's sake!
Some gut-friendly non-irritable foods are easy digesting fibers, low FODMAP ingredients, and psychobiotics. The good news is that IBS does not cause any tissue damage in your gut nor increase your risk of colon cancer. Although there’s no treatment for this disorder it can be managed by taking medications and bringing changes in your lifestyle.
Management of IBS, clinical symptoms, epidemiology, and clinical presentation may vary in different geographical regions due to differences in diet, gastrointestinal infection, sociocultural and psycho-social factors, religious and illness beliefs, symptom perception, and reporting.
References
The gut microbiome and irritable bowel syndrome
Irritable Bowel Syndrome and the Gut Microbiome: A Comprehensive Review
