GI Disease

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Irritable bowel syndrome is a common disease, yet the public do not realize its existence. In Hong Kong, an IBS patient can be found among every six people. The symptoms of IBS include abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, which the symptoms are similar to other gastrointestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel diseases and colorectal cancer. Thus, it is not easy for the public to distinguish the disease. As such disease is not related to anatomical defects and there is no complication. In other words, it is not fatal. However, it will lead to inconvenience in daily life. There is once that a constipation-type IBS patient mentioned: “Because of urgency, I will try to avoid travelling by long haul transportations. Also, every time when I go to a new place, I will seek for the lavatory as my first concern.” Thus, IBS can be very annoying to its patients. As mentioned that the symptoms of IBS are resembled to other GI diseases, so a colonoscopy procedure is advised to be conducted to ensure there is no anatomical defects before the patient could be defined as IBS.