Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a digestive condition that can cause substantial discomfort in those who have it.
Medical professionals use the common symptoms associated with the disease as a driving factor in diagnosis and can help patients formulate a plan that prevents IBS from negatively impacting their quality of life.
While there is no cure for IBS, there are plenty of adjustments to diet and behavior that can be implemented that have proven to be successful in easing symptoms.
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Read more about IBS diagnosis and symptoms below.
If you have persistent digestive concerns, talking through symptoms with your doctor can help you reach a diagnosis. (iStock)
1. How is IBS diagnosed?
There is no single test that is done in order to diagnose IBS.
Rather, doctors diagnose IBS by talking through the symptoms a patient is experiencing.
“We make the diagnosis mainly based on symptoms, and there are criteria called the Rome criteria, which were developed by a worldwide group of experts in classifying disorders of gut brain interaction,” Dr. Laurence Bailen, chief of gastroenterology and hepatology at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts, part of the Mass General Brigham system, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
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“Everybody with irritable bowel syndrome needs to have abdominal pain as one of their main symptoms and associated with abdominal pain, they’ll have disorders of the function of the intestines,” Bailen continued.
“They’ll either have constipation or they’ll have diarrhea, or there’s a group of patients who have a mixture between both diarrhea and constipation that alternates.”
If you are experiencing prolonged digestive issues that are impacting your overall well-being, it is vital to speak with a doctor and begin to find answers as to why these problems are occurring.
IBS is typically diagnosed based on a patient’s symptoms. (iStock)
2. How do you fix IBS?
There are many different ways to help ease IBS symptoms.
The main ways to treat IBS can be broken down into three different categories: diet and lifestyle adjustments, behavior modification and medications, according to Bailen.
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“From a diet standpoint, one of the main diets that has been recommended and shown to be beneficial in people with IBS in clinical studies, is what’s called the low FODMAP diet and that’s an acronym for fermentable, oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols,” Bailen said.
“These are basically food substances. There’s fruits, vegetables, artificial sweeteners, certain gluten-containing foods, that have been shown to be more difficult to digest and absorb,” Bailen continued.”By eliminating those types of foods, and focusing on foods that have lower FODMAPs in them, that has improved symptoms of abdominal discomfort and bloating that are very typical for IBS.”
Beyond diet, there are other lifestyle changes IBS patients can make to help ease their symptoms.
For those with IBS, a shift in diet can help uncomfortable symptoms subside. (iStock)
This includes practices known to alleviate stress, such as acupuncture, meditation and yoga, as well as speaking with a therapist, Bailen said.
In conjunction with diet and lifestyle changes, those with IBS are typically prescribed medication, which will coincide with what the individual’s primary symptom is, Bailen added.
3. Does IBS go away?
IBS is a condition that usually remains with individuals for their lifetime.
Typically, IBS is spotted at a younger age, commonly seen in people in their teens through their 30s, Bailen said.
For those older IBS patients, Bailen said they’re typically diagnosed later because they were living with IBS, without consulting a doctor.
Practicing mindfulness through yoga and meditation can help alleviate common IBS symptoms. (iStock)
While there are commonalities among IBS patients, the condition affects each person a bit differently.
For example, when it comes to food sensitivities, not all IBS patients suffer from the same ones.
“There are some patients who can tolerate foods that are on a low FODMAP diet, and other patients who just can’t at all, so it’s very variable,” Bailen said.
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While each patient’s experience will be a bit different, there are foods on a general scale that those with IBS should try to avoid.
“In general, though, avoid foods that have a high fat content,” Bailen said.
“So any fried foods, oily, greasy foods are usually tolerated poorly, just because those foods in general, are more difficult for our guts to digest and absorb. Other foods that tend to be a big problem can be artificial sweeteners.”
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“Finally, lactose intolerance is really common and is the most common acquired food intolerance,” Bailen added.
“It also can exacerbate underlying symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.”