Explain IBS

[dvtacad]

Does anyone here have a detailed  explanation of what IBS is and what could cause it's onset? I don't want to know the symptoms.

[CalGal]

Sign on to Medscape.com and read through the IBS Resource Center information. You'll find numerous medical papers (some 'readable,' some not so) on the why's and wherefore's of what a number of docs and researchers believe to be causative factors of IBS.

Some IBS is suggested to be post-infection, about a quarter could actually be celiac problems and other forms of IBS may be due to a nervous/immune system interaction that may have gone slightly screwy. There's a new test that's just come out that checks for a number of very real chemical modulators that may be elevated in those with IBS. This suggests that IBS is a very real entity - as most of us who have experienced IBS already know. It's just been difficult to get most of the medical profession to open their eyes.

[joyneau]

No one knows what exactly causes it.
and to explain it would be to include its symptoms It is a set of symptoms that occurs in  some people that causes...well you know the rest.
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/930590639.html
Quote:
The cause of IBS is not known, and as yet there is no cure. Doctors call it a functional disorder because there is no sign of disease when the colon is examined. IBS causes a great deal of discomfort and distress, but it does not cause permanent harm to the intestines and does not lead to intestinal bleeding of the bowel or to a serious disease such as cancer.
Above this quote first paragraph is the definition...which again..includes the symptoms.