Do you suffer from constant abdominal cramps and pain or bloody diarrhea at times? If you are or one of your loves is, then this blog was made specifically for you. Even if you have never experienced any of those two symptoms listed above or know no one who is suffering or has suffered from them you still need to read this blog because prevention is better than cure and as my mom always said, "knowledge is the best preventive weapon." This blog is meant to educate those who are living with IBS or IBD and to increase awareness about these and other functional gastrointestinal disorders.
Basic info about IBS and IBD
Diarrhea, abdominal cramps & pain are some common symptoms that are associated with bowel disorders. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are two different bowel disorders that are frequently confused with each other due to their numerous shared features. IBS is a dysfunctional of the GI tract typified by periodic abdominal pain and discomfort accompanied by alternation in bowel function, bloody diarrhea or constipation at times, on average lasting any time from weeks, to months or years.IBS is more of a collection of symptoms, hence it is not a specific disease. IBS causes are unknown. On the contrary, IBD is a term use to describe a group of disorders that cause the intestines to become inflamed (red and swollen). Unlike IBS, IBD is a chronic, nonspecific inflammation of the GI tract. Common symptoms of IBD include frequent abdominal cramps and pain, bleeding from the intestines which results in bloody diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight loss. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are two types of IBD. IBD is an idiopathic disease (unknown causes). The speculation within the research communities is that a number of factors may be involved, such as environment, diet, and possibly genetics.
