Recent Developments in the Prevention and Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic functional gastrointestinal disease. The clinical symptoms of IBS mainly include abdominal pain and abnormal bowel movements. Clinically, IBS is divided into four types, which are caused by environmental and host factors, but the exact pathogenesis is unclear. Clinical diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of IBS are rather tricky. In contrast to functional diarrhea and constipation, the most notable symptom for diagnosing IBS is abdominal pain. The treatments for IBS include non-drug treatment and/or drug treatment. In general, the non-drug treatment is delivered in accordance with the patient's physiology and psychology, including professional guidance, dietary intervention, and psychological counseling. And drug treatment is implemented depending on the specific condition of the patient. Recent studies have shown that the intestinal flora is also involved in the incidence and progression of IBS, and the use of probiotics and intestinal microbiota transplantation may be effective treatments for IBS. This article reviews the latest developments in pathogenesis, treatments, prevention strategies, and possible future research directions regarding IBS.

Keywords

• |irritable bowel syndrome|signs and symptoms|diagnosis|therapy|universal precautions