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IBS
and how to create good gut health
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can affect anyone. According to the NHS it’s thought to affect up to one in five people at some point in their life, and usually first starts to develop in people when they are between the age of 20 and 30. It’s also twice as common in women as in men, and is often a lifelong condition
The most common symptoms include:
• Abdominal cramping and pain – this may happen in different parts of the abdomen, while the length of each bout of pain can vary greatly.
• Bloating and swelling of your abdomen, which may develop from time to time.
• Change in bowel habits – some people have bouts of diarrhoea, and some have bouts of constipation (or both).
Other symptoms can include nausea, headache, burping, poor appetite, tiredness, bad breath, backache, muscle pains, feeling quickly full after eating and a sense of incomplete emptying after going to the toilet. Some people have occasional mild symptoms or more
regular flare-ups of symptoms but others can have more severe symptoms for long periods. Nobody really knows what causes it, but there’s a good
chance it may be linked to gut hypersensitivity as well as problems digesting food. Stress and other emotional factors
14 All About health
may trigger symptoms in some people too. But while there’s no cure for IBS, the symptoms can often be managed with diet and lifestyle changes, including avoiding any foods that trigger the symptoms, exercising regularly and taking steps to reduce stress. Current guidance from the National Institute of Health
and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends people with IBS are given information explaining the importance of self-help in managing their symptoms. In addition to information about healthy lifestyle, physical activity and dietary advice, NICE suggests people with IBS should be informed about the appropriate use of probiotics (or so-called ‘friendly’ bacteria).
Can probiotics really help? The human digestive tract is thought to be home to 100
trillion different bacteria. Many experts believe changes in our lifestyle during the past few decades have upset the bacteria’s natural balance. And this, they say, may explain why gastrointestinal conditions such as IBS have become more common. Probiotic products, however, have been shown to rebalance the levels of beneficial bacteria in the gut, reversing hypersensitivity in both animals and humans. There are many types of probiotic products to choose
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