Management of the Irritable Bowel

  • W. Grant Thompson
Chapter
Part of the Topics in Gastroenterology book series (TGEN)

Abstract

The irritable bowel syndrome affects 15-20% of people.1,2 Fortunately, most sufferers do not seek medical attention. Those who do constitute an important health problem and make up 30-50% of referrals to Western gastroen-terologists.3 Most patients are female, and there is an association with personality or psychiatric disturbance, but amongst noncomplainers the sexes are equally represented and psychosocial backgrounds are similar among nonsufferers.4,5 Threatening life events often precede the patient’s visit to a doctor.6,7 The IBS is a benign condition with no organic consequences other than those resulting from injudicious tests or treatments. It usually begins in youth and continues or recurs throughout life.8-10 Thus, any management strategy must take into account the patient’s psychosocial history, the benign but lifelong nature of the symptoms, and the lack of any generally accepted pathophysiologic conception of how the symptoms are generated.

Keywords

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Lower Esophageal Sphincter Positive Diagnosis Supportive Psychotherapy Irritable Colon Syndrome 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 1992

Authors and Affiliations

  • W. Grant Thompson
    • 1
  1. 1.Division of GastroenterologyOttawa Civic Hospital, University of OttawaOttawaCanada

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