Spastic Colon Health Video

Video Transcript

JUSTIN C.K. DAVIS, M.D.: Hi. My name is Dr. Justin Davis, and today I would like to speak with you about spastic colon. Now, spastic colon is more commonly known as irritable bowel syndrome, also called IBS, which stands for irritable bowel syndrome. Irritable bowel syndrome, and I am going to call it IBS from now on, is a problem when people have intestinal motility problems. Now, the term spastic, you might think that it is a spasm-ing of the intestines and this is commonly true, but it is a little bit of a misnomer because often you mean to have just the opposite and in fact the intestines are not working as well as they should and are not moving things along. So, along with both of these possibilities comes a number of symptoms. You may have, if you have irritable bowel, bloating. You may have cramping, abdominal pain, diarrhea and sometimes constipation or even both, and it is really a bit unpredictable when this happens, which makes it one of the more difficult problems that people deal with. Sometimes you may know when it is going to happen, sometimes particular foods like spicy foods for example or garlic, maybe things that you know causes this to be a bigger problem with you and other times it is simply unpredictable or perhaps if you are particularly nervous or anxious, this may be also triggers that offset IBS syndrome for particular people. Now, how do you treat or prevent this problem? Well, it can be difficult because we do not know precisely what causes it, and for so many people there are so many different triggers. So, what we usually try to do is aim at either relieving the symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome, because it is really not a life-threatening disease, but really it is something that is uncomfortable and can be very inconvenient. So, treatments typically are aimed at relieving symptoms such as if you have diarrhea, then taking antidiarrheal medicine or if you are constipated, perhaps taking something to help with the constipation. We also know that diet seems to play a large role, so, avoiding certain triggers is important particularly if you can narrow down which triggers are specific for you. And it seems that drinking plenty of fluids and plenty of fiber in a diet helps most people with this problem. There are some special medicines that are also made to help with irritable bowel. Usually these are used as a last result, but for some people they are necessary. If you have this problem, or you think perhaps you do have this problem or some of these symptoms, here is a few things to remember. First of all, you are not alone. Millions of Americans and people around the world are affected by IBS. Sometimes often and sometimes infrequently, but you certainly have many people that share similar symptoms. Also, there may be something else other than IBS. It could be something that is easily treatable. For example, you may have just simply a lactose intolerance or you may have certain food allergies. It is importance to know, because those can be treated, or it may be something underlying that is a little bit more serious. So, again, if you think that you may have symptoms that could be related to irritable bowel, it is always a good idea to let your physician know sooner rather than later.