Irritable Bowel Syndrome: What is it?

ActiveGuy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:30:21 +0000

At least 58 million Americans have suffered IBS at some stage in their lives. They have cramp like abdominal pains, diarrhoea and/ constipation. These symptoms vary in individual IBS patients and also from day to day. Jeffrey Roberts, president of the IBS Self Help and Support Group, says, “IBS is an illness which seems to strike people down.”

IBS is a collection of symptoms that are present for 12 weeks in twelve month period. It is characterised by abdominal pain and must include at least two of the following three facts. The pain is relieved with bowel movement, and associated with a change in the frequency of bowel movement and appearance of the stools.

Certain foods and stress can trigger symptoms or cause a flare up of IBS. Experts are still uncertain as to what exactly IBS is or what causes it. What we knowat present is the Large Gut in IBS sufferers are more sensitive and, hormonal changes may be a trigger because 80% of IBS patients are women. It can develop after a severe episode of gastroenteritis and there is a higher incident in individuals who were physically and sexually abused as children.

In IBS, there is no abnormality in the gut even though you have distressing symptoms such as abdominal pains, diarrhoea, constipation, bloating and rectal pain. In fact it is not IBS if anything was found during investigation.

If you have symptoms of IBS, make sure you see your family physician for a diagnosis. Your doctor is likely to do tests to exclude serious diseases before a diagnosis of IBS is made. With the Rome Criteria, a diagnosis can be made with minimal diagnostic test. However, you should see your doctor very soon if you have bleeding from the rectum, loss of appetite, weight loss, anaemia or symptoms developing after fifty years of age because you will need addition investigation.

Some IBS sufferers think their illness is “All in the head.” This is not true but the brain and symptom development are linked and there is a strong belief that Brain-Gut connection is very important. IBS and Serotonin are linked. High blood levels are present in Diarrhoea predominant IBS and low levels are found in Constipation predominant IBS.

We know that in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, there is no abnormality in the large gut, it is not a cancer and will not lead to cancer or other gastrointestinal disease and it is very common. It is estimated that at some time in their lives as much as 20% of the global population has or had IBS.

To come to terms with IBS is difficult for patients especially when experts tell them no one knows the true cause, no single medication works for everyone and that there is no cure. Depending on the type of IBS you have, dietary changes, stress management, behavioural therapy and various alternative treatments options are available.

Some IBS patients have severe abdominal pains soon after eating certain foods. This is often due to eating a large meal and in a sensitive gut triggers strong Gastro-colic reflex. This a very strong peristaltic contraction in response to stretching of the stomach. This can be very painful for a patient with IBS. You can reduce this by having smaller meals and eat frequently. You need nutrients from food to remain healthy, so it is important that you do not avoid foods.

Stress is a trigger for IBS symptoms. Relieve stress and your IBS will improve.

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The Law of Attraction and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

ActiveGuy — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:46:11 +0000

IBS affects up to 20% of people globally. IBS symptoms are pains in the abdomen bloating and altered bowel pattern. In addition there can be rectal symptoms such as irritation and urgency. Sometimes non-colonic symptoms can develop.

Treatments of IBS fall into four categories. Patient education, medication, dietary modification and behavioural and psychological therapies are the four categories. Experts now agree that behaviour and psychological therapies are more likely to be effective that the other three.

The law of Attraction suggests that you attract into your life whatever you think about. This generalisation in simple terms means that your thoughts determine your destiny. The Law of Attraction has built up an enormous momentum after a documentary film, “The Secrets”, was shown on Oprah. It has been used for some time for personal growth, achievement and financial gain.

In medicine, does the Law of Attraction work? A study done in 2004 on 314 elderly subjects and 196 young people associated with negative thoughts or rumination concluded that negative thoughts can damage your health. In Reikii, all processes of healing or personal and spiritual development is associated with elimnating from a person’s energy field negative KI or life forces, and removing negative feelings and thoughts that have created it.

Job loss, relationship break ups etc may lead to negative thoughts and self esteem. These people can feel worthless, insignificant, unsure and easily defeated. A person with high self-esteem has positive thoughts and their thoughts determine their level of success.

So, does the Law of Attraction apply to Irritable Bowel Syndrome? When a person is first diagnosed with IBS, what information is delivered? There are some common ones. No one is quite sure why you have IBS. There is no single treatment that works for everyone. Your gut is normal. Stress can trigger IBS symptoms. A cure is not an option. With IBS, you have to live with it. It is also an established fact that most IBS sufferers do not get adequate support from their health professionals.

All these facts are negative. Is it not likely that they can lead to negative thoughts in the minds of IBS patients and produce negative effects? Recently experts are recommending treatment that focus on the mind for IBS treatment. These include psychotherapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). “Patients who have ongoing IBS symptoms might benefit from a simple, early intervention of CGT, a means of changing thought processes from negative to positive that has been shown to be helpful.” Said Moss-Morris at the University of Southampton At the State University of New York, Dr. J. Lackner reported that after four brief sessions of CBT and a self-study manual given to patients, there was improvement in 73% of his IBS patients.

When a new treatment come on the market, an IBS patient will expectantly try it and may gain benefits. This improvement is short lived because in the mind, there is fixed the thought that there is no cure.

There are cases of refractory Irritable Bowel Syndrome patients following gut directed hypnotherapy enjoying normal lives, having foods that previously cause severe IBS symptoms. No treatment is effective in refractory IBS. During hypnotherapy, negative messages about IBS are plucked from the subconscious mind and postive thoughts are added. The Law of Attraction is at work here. After hypnotherapy, positive thoughts produce positive results and before hypnotherapy, ingrained negative thoughts make symptoms severe.

Using the Law of Attraction, how can you improve your symptoms of IBS? Keep the positives in the forefront of your mind. Make them your reality and eventually your thoughts and feelings. In IBS there are many positives. There is no abnormality in your gut. Your IBS will not lead on to other illnesses. If stress is a trigger, you can control it. You can balance your lifestyle to improve your IBS. You see yourself one day in total control of your IBS. Whatever IBS treatment you are on, keep your dreams and aspirations positive.

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome: What is it?

The Law of Attraction and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.