Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Introduction
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is known by a variety of other terms: spastic colon, spastic colitis, mucous colitis and nervous or functional bowel. Usually, it is a disorder of the large intestine (colon), although other parts of the intestinal tract-even up to the stomach can be affected.When IBS occurs, the colon does not contract normally. Instead, it seems to contract in a disorganized, at times violent, manner. The contractions may be terribly exaggerated and sustained, lasting for prolonged periods of time. One area of the colon may contract with no regard to another. At other times, there may be little bowel activity at all. These abnormal contractions result in changing bowel patterns with constipation being common.
The colon, the last five feet of the intestine, serves a number of important functions in the body. First, it dehydrates and stores the stool so that, normally, a well-formed soft stool occurs. Second, it quietly propels the stool from the right side over to the rectum, storing it there until it can be evacuated. This movement occurs by rhythmic contractions of the colon. A third very important function is to provide and produce a large number of health benefits, if fed properly with prebiotic plant fibers. The best way to nourish these bacteria is with a prebiotic fiber supplement.
