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Colon Health

Living with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

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Irri­ta­ble bow­el syn­drome (IBS) is a func­tion­al dis­or­der of the colon that caus­es a vari­ety of uncom­fort­able gas­troin­testi­nal symp­toms. In addi­tion to affect­ing between 25 – 55 mil­lion peo­ple in the Unit­ed States, IBS is the sec­ond high­est cause of ill­ness-relat­ed work absences. Dur­ing nor­mal diges­tion, your brain and gut work togeth­er to send sig­nals to your hor­mones, nerves and the good bac­te­ria found in your gut to acti­vate the mus­cles of your colon. When you are expe­ri­enc­ing an IBS episode, these sig­nals become jum­bled, caus­ing the mus­cles of your diges­tive tract to become tense. This leads to symp­toms such as con­sti­pa­tion or diar­rhea, gas and stom­ach cramp­ing. IBS symp­toms and their sever­i­ty vary by per­son, but often include:

Colorectal Cancer Q&A

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Col­orec­tal can­cer is com­mon, affect­ing approx­i­mate­ly 1 in every 23 men and 1 in 25 women in the US over the course of their life­time. Stay­ing up-to-date on rec­om­mend­ed can­cer screen­ings has proven to be a high­ly effec­tive way to detect can­cer ear­li­er, start treat­ment soon­er and slow dis­ease pro­gres­sion. Can­cer screen­ings are par­tic­u­lar­ly effec­tive for col­orec­tal can­cer because it pro­gress­es slow­ly. Our board-cer­ti­fied Gas­troen­terol­o­gists, Drs. Kashyap Kat­wala, MD and Rafi Ali, MD and Cia­rán Bradley, MD, FACS, board cer­ti­fied in surgery and sur­gi­cal oncol­o­gy answer your com­mon ques­tions about col­orec­tal can­cer, the risk fac­tors you should be aware of and what treat­ment options are available.