Questions and Answers

What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)?

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common chronic gastrointestinal condition characterised by abdominal symptoms such as bloating, abdominal pain and discomfort, and change of bowel habit leading to either constipation or diarrhoea. Often the pain occurs in spasms and this led to the early naming of the syndrome as ‘spastic colon’. The symptoms need to be experienced consistently over a 3 month period for a diagnosis of IBS to be confirmed.

It is extremely common and estimated to affect between 10 and 22% of the adult population with double the frequency in women.

(Brit. Journal Gastroenterology 2006). Furthermore, it places an enormous burden on the NHS, accounting for 20-50% of outpatient workload in hospital gastroenterology units.

Can IBS Lead to More Serious Disease?

No. The syndrome is neither life threatening nor an overt risk factor for the development of more serious diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease. However, IBS has a significant negative impact on quality of life, and social functionality, and this can be over a period of many years.

Is it possible to have a mild form of IBS?

It does appear that many people, particularly women, experience some symptoms of IBS, notably bloating, on a regular basis. Whilst these symptoms are generally less severe than would be recognised in a full diagnosis of IBS, they still cause significant discomfort and reduce quality of life.

What causes IBS?

The cause or causes of IBS are not clear, but one theory gaining ground is that it may be due to a shift in the balance of the billions of bacteria which normally inhabit our intestine towards those which can produce excessive gas and which could possibly initiate an inflammatory response. The combination of a mild inflammatory reaction and the production of ‘wind’ leads to many of the symptoms of IBS.

What causes the balance of the gut bacteria to alter?

Again, this is not entirely clear, but gastrointestinal infections, or the use of antibiotics seems to trigger the onset of IBS symptoms in some people.

How is IBS currently treated?

Treatment of IBS tends to revolve around individual symptom management by use of anti-diarrhoeals, or laxatives, to resolve bowel habit problems, and anti-spasmodics for pain relief. In addition, mild anti-depressants are often recommended, with some degree of success, although the reasons for this are unclear.

How may probiotics help in the treatment of IBS?

The lack of any definitive and consistently effective treatment, together with the increased evidence of the involvement of the gut microflora, has prompted an interest as to whether ‘probiotics’, which are the ‘good’ bacteria in the gut may have a beneficial effect on symptoms of IBS. It is thought that supplementing large numbers of these beneficial bacteria may have the effect of ‘crowding out’ the bad bacteria in the gut thereby helping to reduce gas production. Probiotic bacteria produce virtually no gas - whilst at the same time reducing any potential for inflammation to occur.