What Is IBS?

The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the commonest and most troublesome of all diseases. Some experts claim that at one time or another as many as one in three people suffer from it. It affects men as much as women - although it is usually regarded as a disease which primarily affects young women in their twenties, thirties and forties - and it affects the young as much as the old. Children under ten can get it and there are many sufferers in their seventies and eighties.

IBS probably affects as many people as toothache or the common cold. It is also one of the most commonly misdiagnosed of all diseases - and one of the most badly treated. Once it has developed it hardly ever disappears completely. That's the bad news. The good news is twofold.

First, IBS isn't dangerous or life threatening; it doesn't turn into anything more serious, it won't turn into cancer and it won't kill you or even threaten your life.

The symptoms associated with IBS may be exhausting, irritating, worrying and disabling but there does not usually seem to be any underlying pathology. And second, although it does tend to persist - once you have got it you've probably got it for life - IBS can be controlled. There is no quick, simple, reliable cure because there is no clearly defined cause. But although you may not be able to conquer IBS completely - and make the symptoms disappear - you can control it.