The Burden of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Family physicians frequently see patients who have abdominal pain and altered bowel habits. It is a challenge to properly evaluate these patients and differentiate between IBS and life-threatening illnesses of the gastrointestinal tract. Americans spend much each year on medical costs related to IBS, and absenteeism resulting from IBS significantly affects the work force.

IBS is one of the most common chronic gastrointestinal illnesses. IBS traditionally has been a diagnosis of exclusion, based on history, physical examination, and a negative battery of diagnostic studies. There are no structural or chemical markers for IBS. Diagnostic tests are frequently overused because physicians are concerned about missing a life-threatening illness.

Studies have shown that IBS affects 3-22% of persons worldwide. Symptoms are reported by 12% of Americans and are the cause of 20-50% of referrals to gastroenterology clinics. Most people with IBS do not seek medical care. One half of patients develop symptoms before 35, and 40% of patients develop symptoms between 35 and 50. Onset in elderly persons is rare.

IBS is recognized in children, and many patients can trace their symptoms to childhood. One study found that 26% of children with recurrent abdominal pain were diagnosed with IBS, making it a common reason for school absenteeism. 70% of patients with IBS are women; women who have had a hysterectomy for chronic pelvic pain are twice as likely to have IBS.

Some patients with chronic pelvic pain, dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, or a history of numerous abdominal surgeries also have IBS. The most common symptoms of IBS include a change in the appearance or frequency of stools, and abdominal pain. Other associated symptoms include bloating, distention, mucus in the stool, urgency, and a feeling of incomplete evacuation.

Based on stool-habit alteration, three subgroups of IBS have been described. IBS is characterized by a multiple symptom complex of abdominal pain or discomfort and altered bowel habits and is associated with a large unmet medical need. IBS symptoms are chronic and bothersome, and they have a profound negative impact on patients quality of life.

IBS imposes a substantial economic burden in direct medical costs and in indirect social costs such as absenteeism from work and school and lost productivity, along with the less-measurable costs of a decreased quality of life. The goals of IBS therapy are to provide global relief of the multiple symptoms of IBS and to relieve single IBS symptoms.

Although traditional IBS therapies are useful for some patients in relieving single IBS symptoms, patients generally are dissatisfied with their overall efficacy and tolerability. These agents have not been proven to be more effective than placebo in providing global relief of the multiple symptoms of IBS. Advancements in the medicinal plant treatment of IBS have provided hope.

Devoid of negative side effects when used per directions, IBS DropsRx is composed of medicinal plant extracts exhibiting the highest pharmacological effect against this condition while delivering fast irritable bowel syndrome treatment. Taken as a dietary supplement, it has an antispasmodic effect on the gut and intestines.

It delivers a curative effect against IBS, providing reversal of the condition. IBS DropsRx acts as a calming demulcent; it forms a soothing film when exposed to mucous membranes, relieving irritation of the gut and inflamed mucous membranes. As a result, it is also an analgesic that provides immediate relief of pain and discomfort associated with IBS treatment.

Furthermore, it has shown profound effectiveness as an irritable bowel syndrome treatment method to negate diarrhea. The antispasmodic actions on the intestinal muscles, coupled with the astringent properties and the ability of the extracts to calm the nervous system, creates a pronounced ease of bowel discomfort and quantifiably stops diarrhea.

Medicinal plant extracts exhibiting a calming analgesic effect, with antispasmolytic properties on the smooth muscle of the bowel and gut are what make IBS DropsRx so unique and successful as an irritable bowel syndrome treatment formula. Oral intake reduces colonic pressure and prevents foaming, all of which helps reduce colic pain, as reported in the medical journal Lancet.

The extracts in IBS DropsRx provide a calming sedative effect. They deliver a profound calming effect not only on the physical imbalance caused by IBS but also on an emotional level. They have anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-spasmodic effects, giving this IBS treatment great value. To learn more, please go to http://www.naturespharma.org.