Irritable Bowel Syndrome, also known as IBS, is a health condition that millions of people deal with on a daily basis.  While most people believe the gastrointestinal system is the culprit, the truth is that IBS involves a spastic colon or bowel.  Unfortunately, the result is a lot of pain and discomfort, not to mention inconvenience.  For this reason, IBS has created a difficult situation for many people relating to home and work life.

Although there are specific triggers that will set the disorder into motion, it is also important to understand how stress can affect IBS.  Learning the causes of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, as well as the various stress factors will allow you to seek proper medical care, get on the right treatment, and know the right way to live a normal life.

First, IBS occurs when nerves controlling the gastrointestinal system, particularly the bowel and colon, do not function properly.  As a result, there is too much activity, which sends the bowel and/or colon into spasms.  Along with this are the many different symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, and cramping that can make a person miserable.  These sensory nerves can become over stimulated by many things to include food stretching out the small intestine, and stress.

Another area that has been considered is whether poor food absorption and digestion have anything to do with IBS.  While there still needs to be a lot more work done to identify the direct link, there are some medical professionals that believe sugars could contribute to the various Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms.  The problem is believed that sugars not only enhance symptoms but they also do not absorb in the system, which results in excessive bloating and gas.

As far as how can stress affect IBS, there has been new attention on this possibility.  After all, we live in a world where people are working long hours, taking on more responsibility at home, getting more involved with the community, and overall, increasing stress significantly.  Because of high demands with our current society, it is believed that IBS symptoms are impacted by increased levels of stress.  Although stress may not be the reason IBS develops, it certainly does not make things any easier.

For instance, as to how stress can affect IBS, when a person becomes tense, agitated, nervous, frustrated, angry, fatigued, or experience a feeling of being overwhelmed, the body will naturally respond and typically, not in a positive way.  Keep in mind that there are many parts of the body that work off nervous systems to include the colon.  In this case, nerves from the colon send and receive messages from the brain so if an individual is feeling stress, the nerves are going to respond.

The way colon nerves work is by controlling contractions.  Therefore, if the colon’s nerves are over stimulated or overly active, they are going to have an impact on the way in which the bowel or colon reacts.  How can stress affect IBS?  Simply put, if the nerves are working harder than normal, the colon is going to start contracting.  In return, the person will start to experience pain, bloating, gas, and cramping, often followed by the consequences of an over active colon in the form of diarrhea or constipation.

Another important thing to understand in how stress can affect IBS is that many new studies show that the body’s immune system, which is needed to help fight off infection, is also compromised when the body is stressed.  This means in addition to battling all the issues connected to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a person might also find they get more colds, cases of the flu, or simply feel fatigued and drained because the immune system is no longer able to work at full capacity.

The good news is that while it appears there is a direct correlation between Irritable Bowel Syndrome and stress, a person also has several options to keep things in check, which in turn, reduces or eliminates the symptoms.  For instance, the following are a few recommended changes that would make a positive impact.

• Get proper sleep
• Use a minimum of 30 minutes exercise daily, such as swimming, walking, or yoga, to help ease stress
• Learn techniques to lower stress such as visualization, meditation, and other relaxation measures
• Benefit from behavioral and pain management counseling
• Consider a change in job or career, modify the social schedule to be less busy, and become more organized at home