Blog

Irritable bowel syndrome is a disease entity characterized by chronic abdominal pain and disturbances in bowel habits, without any organic cause having been identified. It is the most common disease of the gastrointestinal system, affecting 15-20% of the Greek population, especially young people and women.

What are the main symptoms?

Chronic abdominal pain.

Abdominal pain is described as intense tightness in the abdomen that periodically subsides or worsens. The location and character of the pain vary. Factors such as stress and food can worsen the pain, while defecation relieves it.

Pay attention to abdominal pain associated with anorexia, weight loss, or that wakes the patient during the night because it requires further examination.

Bowel disorders. Patients with irritable bowel syndrome complain of intestinal discomfort that can involve diarrhea, constipation, or even alternating between the two conditions; 50% of patients complain of diarrhea.

Bloody or nocturnal or oily diarrhea cannot be associated with the syndrome and indicate an organic problem.

Other symptoms associated with the syndrome are nausea, indigestion, abdominal bloating (bloating), and gas.

External symptoms. Patients often complain of dysmenorrhea (pain during menstruation), dyspareunia (pain during sexual intercourse), and generalized pain.

How is the diagnosis made?

Unfortunately, no blood test has been found that indicates that we suffer from the syndrome. Therefore, it is a diagnosis of exclusion. Therefore, in addition to the clinical picture that I described above, the doctor must send stool cultures to rule out an infection. A blood test for celiac disease, a disease with similar symptoms, is considered necessary. It is logical, if the symptoms persist, to initially resort to an abdominal ultrasound and eventually even a colonoscopy to rule out organic disease.

Treatment

Irritable bowel syndrome is a chronic disease for which no definitive treatment has yet been found. The main goal of our medical interventions lies in alleviating the patient’s symptoms and ruling out suspicions of a serious disease. The cornerstone is therefore the relationship of trust and understanding between the doctor and the patient.

Be careful with your diet! Avoid foods that produce gas, such as legumes, cereals, bananas, carrots, peaches. Eliminating foods with lactose helps some sufferers. Increase fiber intake when the disease is in remission and eliminate them from the diet during an exacerbation of symptoms.

Medications. Chronic use of medications should be avoided. However, during exacerbations, we recommend the systematic use of antispasmodics for a limited period of time. It has also been shown that some mild antidepressants help, taking advantage of their analgesic effect.

The administration of antidiarrheals for a short period of time helps patients with diarrhea during an exacerbation but does not relieve pain. In addition, the use of some antiemetics (serotonin agonists) can help with abdominal pain.

Finally, antibiotics are often used to treat persistent symptoms.

Alternative therapies with probiotics, herbs, acupuncture, and enzyme administration are still at an experimental level, with encouraging results.

In conclusion, I must point out that irritable bowel syndrome is a complex clinical entity, which although does not pose major risks to the health of the sufferer, can nevertheless cause him mental and physical suffering. It is necessary to systematically monitor the sufferer by scientists with the required expertise, in order to provide the personalized treatment that this complex disease requires.