IBS sufferers account for ten to twenty percent of the world's populations today. It is one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders today in the United States and Canada. In most cases gastroenterologists diagnose it. These are doctors that specialize in medical treatment of disorders of the stomach and intestines. It is also one of the most common problems that are being seen by primary care physicians as well.

There are many other terms that have been used to describe Irritable Bowl Syndrome. They include such things as spastic colon, mucous colitis, spastic colitis, nervous stomach or irritable colon. No matter the name, the condition is the same and it causes some people to have to change their lives drastically in order to deal with the condition and problems associated with it.

Medical professionals classify the condition of Irritable Bowel Syndrome as functional disorder. A functional disorder refers to a disorder or disease where the primary abnormality is an altered physiological function, which is the way the body works, rather than an identifiable structural of biochemical cause. It characterizes a disorder that generally cannot be diagnosed in a traditionally way. It cannot be found by x-ray or blood test.

IBS is understood as multi-faceted disorder. In people with IBS there are many symptoms. These symptoms appear to come from a disturbance in the interaction between the intestines, the brain and automatic nervous system that alters regulation of bowel motility.

Some of the symptoms that people experience from IBS are abdominal pain or discomfort. This discomfort is associated with a change in bowel patterns, such as loose or more frequent bowel movement, diarrhea and/or constipation.