An estimated 25 to 45 million people suffer from irritable bowel syndrome or IBS, a condition that stresses us out and has very unpleasant effects. By now, there hasn’t been any conclusive test to diagnose exactly what happens in our bodies and what triggers the disease. Scientists concluded that IBS is an organic disease, in spite of the psychological distress that triggers it.
Previous studies have linked IBS with psychological causes, as some scientific papers stated that our guts have a brain of their own and it reacts to emotional factors just like the one in our heads. When diarrhea or constipation hit us, sometimes or most of the times (as long as it doesn’t become a chronical illness) is due to emotional distress.
Our body is in perfect balance with our mind, or in such cases, imbalance, and the most visible and felt reaction when we face stressful situations happens in our stomachs. We start having strong pain, diarrhea and stressful metabolic distress that can last for days or years, depending on the treatments we choose- which by now have proved inefficient in majority – and the way we can mentally deal with it.
IBS can occur at any age, but as a permanent affection it’s commonly diagnosed in those under 50 years of age. Women are two times more exposed to IBS than men.
Doctors are not yet positive about what triggers it but the psychological factors are surely heavy contributors to the condition.
Teams of researchers are anyhow on their way to solving the mystery, with the introduction of two simple blood tests that can spot the disease. These tests can detect the presence of antibodies to cytolethal distending toxin B and vinculin, two hints that can help healers settle upon the IBS diagnostic without a doubt. If the test for these two antibodies is positive, the diagnosis is clear.
First thing we need to do to stop the sometimes unbearable effects of the disease is to treat our mind and free ourselves from stressful environments and worrying thoughts. Although scientists and doctors deny that IBS can be caused by a psychological dysfunction, our state of mind remains one of the main triggers of the disease.
No distinct cause has been found anyhow, but at least we now know how to spot the affection when it starts taking over our good spirits and wellness. The IBS test invented by researchers doesn’t yet prove to be that efficient. A positive result can surely be highly suggestive of IBS, with 44% of the tested patients had a positive result after the analysis. Still, many people who test negative could still suffer from the condition. Is it the mind, is it the body, is it the mind influencing the body? We can only see and experience that for ourselves.
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