Irritable bowel syndrome

IBS affects 10 to 15 percent of US adults. Only 5-7 percent of US adults have received a diagnosis of IBS.

What is IBS?
"Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a group of symptoms—including pain or discomfort in your abdomen and changes in your bowel movement patterns—that occur together. Doctors call IBS a functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. Functional GI disorders happen when your GI tract behaves in an abnormal way without evidence of damage due to a disease."

Four Types of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Stool consistency dictates the four types.


 * IBS with constipation
 * IBS with diarrhea
 * Mixed IBS
 * Unsubtyped IBS

ME/CFS and IBS
Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Why Do They Go Together?

About.com Health FMS/ME/CFS By: Adrienne Dellwo

"Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) frequently go together. No one really knows why, but we do know that all three conditions can include imbalances of serotonin -- although in fibromyalgia (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS) it's an imbalance in the brain, while with IBS it's in the gut."

Evidence for the existence of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) with and without abdominal discomfort (irritable bowel) syndrome.

NCBI

"The findings show that ADS is a characteristic of a subset of patients with ME/CFS and that increased bacterial translocation (leaky gut) is associated with ADS symptoms. This study has defined a pathway phenotype, i.e bacterial translocation, that is related to ME/CFS and ADS/IBS and that may drive systemic inflammatory processes."

Prevalence

 * Katrina Berne reports a prevalence of 50-90% for IBS symptoms (including diarrhea, nausea, gas, and abdominal pain) in ME/CFS patients.