IBS can be reduced by balanced diet and stress management<\/p>\n
Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Are you anxious, depressed or stressed out lately? Are you also
\nexperiencing an altered bowel movement to either diarrhea or
\nconstipation or both alternately?<\/p>\n
Such bowel irregularities, popularly known as Irritable Bowel
\nSyndrome (IBS), may be exacerbated by your current psychological
\nstate.<\/p>\n
Studies show that an altered bowel movement can also be
\ntriggered by various causes, including food and other dietary
\nsubstances, drugs, hormones (menstrual cycle) and seasonal
\nchanges, but stress and other psychosocial problems are the most
\ncommon causes.<\/p>\n
And apart from altered bowel movement, IBS sufferers also
\ncomplain about feeling bloated, abdominal pain and discomfort.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, there is no data available on the prevalence of
\nthe syndrome, classified as a functional gastrointestinal
\ndisorder. But in the U.S., IBS affects about 20 percent of its
\npopulation.<\/p>\n
Although the illness attacks people of all ages and races,
\ngastroenterologist from Bandung-based Padjadjaran University
\nAminah Abdurrahman, citing previous studies, said the syndrome
\nmainly affected females, who account for about 70 percent of IBS
\ncases.<\/p>\n
The syndrome, she said, was a treatable functional disorder
\nnot considered fatal, but it would tend to affect the sufferer's
\nproductivity as it would hampers them in their daily activities.<\/p>\n
Data also shows that IBS is on the list of health problems
\ncausing the highest rate of absence from schools or offices,
\nleading to loss of earnings (due to work absence) and increased
\nmedical care costs.<\/p>\n
Aminah explained the syndrome could be categorized as three
\ntypes: IBS with diarrhea (an increase in defecation to more than
\nthree times per day, with watery stools), IBS with constipation
\n(a decrease in bowel movement to less than three times per week,
\nwith hard stools) and alternating IBS, where sufferers complain
\nof either diarrhea or constipation from time to time.<\/p>\n
According to a paper by C. Beglinger from University Hospital,
\nSwitzerland, published in the International Journal of Clinical
\nPractice, IBS with constipation is highly prevalent, with as many
\nas 80 percent of patients referred to specialist centers
\nreporting constipation as their main bowel dysfunction.<\/p>\n
Aminah added that IBS sufferers might need to communicate
\nbetter with their physician or gastroenterologist.<\/p>\n
\"That way, when a doctor detects possible psychological
\nproblems behind their bowel problems, the former can refer them
\nto a psychologist or psychiatrist,\" she said during the launching
\nof Zelmac, a drug to treat IBS with constipation, by PT Novartis
\nBiochemie Indonesia.<\/p>\n
No available therapy has yet been proven effective to treat
\nvarious IBS symptoms but the newly launched drug can ease
\nsufferers' feelings of being bloated, abdominal pain or
\ndiscomfort and constipation problems. In some cases, signs of
\nimprovement can occur a day after taking the drug, said U.S.-
\nbased Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.'s director of scientific
\naffairs and gastroenterology David L. Earnest.<\/p>\n
Earnest explained the drug worked by stimulating normal
\nperistaltic movement, suppressing some of the nerves that
\ntransmit pain, and causes water to move through the intestine to
\nimprove the stool's consistency, thus reducing the patient's need
\nto strain when defecating<\/p>\n
Besides taking medication, Aminah suggested IBS sufferers
\nmodify their lifestyle by having a balanced diet and managing
\ntheir stress in order to ease the syndrome.<\/p>",
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