Hildreth: Irritable bowel syndrome cases increase

IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, is on the rise among the increasing health complaints. This is particularly true among the female population and particularly the pre-menopausal age group. However, the 50- and 60-year-old age group can also be hit hard.

The symptoms can range from low abdominal cramping, excess gas and/or flatulence, and an alteration between moderate-to-severe and frequent diarrhea to constipation. Many times it will be worse after eating.

Medically, there is not always found an element of inflammation involving the inner lining of the colon such as a colitis.

Past history is always very important for your doctor to pursue, even as far back as young childhood. Irritable means that the inner lining of the large bowel and sometimes the lower aspects of the small bowel are functioning in a very dysfunctional way and not carrying out the normal digestive process.

There is always a moderate to possibly a large amount of various fatty acids and proteins within the lower bowel that will putrefy very quickly if not broken down into their digestive components creating flatulence and bowel irritability.

Some of the initial causes that must be pursued by your doctor are many. This may depend upon the age of the individual and a very detailed explanation of the symptoms and their timing.

I will take time to go into some of the underlying causes that must be ruled out. By no means can I say this will cover all of the possible causes but should include most of the more common.

Number one on the list to rule out would certainly be any mucosal or muscular breakdown secondary to a cancerous process. X-ray studies, endoscopy evaluation and stool analysis for any unusual or pathological stool components including occult blood. When you and your doctor are comfortable that that there are no noted anatomical or physiological defects apparent, then you can get down to the business of trying to find out what may be behind the bowel dysfunction by a good, well-run stool analysis by a lab that is equipped to do a complete analysis. There are many scattered throughout the United States that can do this.

If there is concern that this has been going on for some time, whatever the cause, there no doubt is a toxic chemically imbalanced intrastool substance possibly secondary to inadequate enzyme activity, microbial-yeast activity because of high microbial and yeast levels within the stool substance, or low fluid content and/or low bulk-fiber content secondary to poor nutritional intake.

A good, well-done stool analysis can rule in or out a lot of these possibilities. Many times one must go farther and consider some of the other possibilities.

Sympathetic-parasympathetic imbalance. This is part of the autonomic nervous system that extends from the high brain centers to all parts of the body that along with the hormonal system maintains internal visceral balance and control.

The sympathetic-parasympathetic nervous systems extends down along the spinal column from the brain to the sacral area. This nervous system can be influenced along its pathway in a negative way and influence the intestinal balance from the esophagus down to the anus.

Spinal or vertebral degeneration secondary to osteopenia or osteoporosis with altered or restricted range of motion may influence vagal or sympathetic neurological outflow. The vagal nerve carries a portion of the parasympathetic nerve fibers that could be influenced. Of course, one cannot overlook poor posture and/or lack of exercise that could play a role also.

Anxiety-depressive reaction is well known to play a role in intestinal dysfunction resulting in poor assimilation, increased flatulence, diarrhea and/or constipation. It would not be uncommon for the anxiety-depressive reaction and the resultant symptoms to be secondary to hormonal imbalance which was noted in the statistics earlier.

The last but not the least possible cause of increasing intestinal dysfunction that must be considered is food allergies. Food allergies may be one of the most common and yet the most difficult to pin down. Most people that may be dealing with food allergies would have experienced some form of symptoms in the past, but not necessarily IBS.

The next Hildreth On Health article will take us into some depth as to what you might be able to pursue on your own.

The allergy picture can be a challenge but it is worth pursuing. The probiotics can be a very important part of managing IBS. Fiber from grains, fruits and vegetables should be a cornerstone of the IBS. Wild yam in tincture form can relieve the cramps. And, while you are trying to get to the bottom of a cause, relieving the symptoms is all important.

The only pain the colon can detect is stretching, so relieving the gas and flatulence can be very important along with bringing the diarrhea and/or the constipation under control. In most cases all of these symptoms can be brought under control by your doctor while you are getting down to eliminating the cause. You can be comfortable again, hang in there.

Contact Dr. LeWall J. Hildreth at 625-1101 or cahcgv@yahoo. com Dr. Hildreth specializes in horne balancing and muscul,.oskeletal degeneratin.