irritable bowel syndrome causes

The specific irritable bowel syndrome causes have yet to be discovered by researchers. One theory is that people who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome have a colon, or large intestine, that is particularly sensitive and reactive to certain foods and stress. The immune system, which fights infection, may also be involved in irritable bowel syndrome causes.

Normal motility, or movement, may not be present in the colon of a person who has irritable bowel syndrome. It can be spasmodic or can even stop working temporarily. Spasms are sudden strong muscle contractions that come and go.
The lining of the colon called the epithelium, which is affected by the immune and nervous systems, regulates the flow of fluids in and out of the colon. In irritable bowel syndrome, the epithelium appears to work properly. However, when the contents inside the colon move too quickly, the colon loses its ability to absorb fluids. The result is too much fluid in the stool. In other people, the movement inside the colon is too slow, which causes extra fluid to be absorbed. As a result, a person develops constipation.
A person’s colon may respond strongly to stimuli such as certain foods or stress that would not bother most people.

Research for irritable bowel syndrome causes

Recent research has reported that serotonin is linked with normal gastrointestinal (GI) functioning. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, or chemical, that delivers messages from one part of your body to another. Ninety-five percent of the serotonin in your body is located in the GI tract, and the other 5 percent is found in the brain. Cells that line the inside of the bowel work as transporters and carry the serotonin out of the GI tract. People with irritable bowel syndrome, however, have diminished receptor activity, causing abnormal levels of serotonin to exist in the GI tract. As a result, they experience problems with bowel movement, motility, and sensation—having more sensitive pain receptors in their GI tract.
Researchers have reported that irritable bowel syndrome causes may be initiated by a bacterial infection in the gastrointestinal tract. Studies show that people who have had gastroenteritis sometimes develop irritable bowel syndrome, otherwise called post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome.
Researchers have also found very mild celiac disease in some people with symptoms similar to irritable bowel syndrome. People with celiac disease cannot digest gluten, a substance found in wheat, rye, and barley. People with celiac disease cannot eat these foods without becoming very sick because their immune system responds by damaging the small intestine thereby making irritable bowel syndrome causes an issue to keep in mind. A blood test can determine whether celiac disease may be present.

irritable bowel syndrome causes and your colon

The colon, which is about 5 feet long, connects the small intestine to the rectum and anus. The major function of the colon is to absorb water, nutrients, and salts from the partially digested food that enters from the small intestine.

Two pints of liquid matter enter the colon from the small intestine each day. Stool volume is a third of a pint. The difference between the amount of fluid entering the colon from the small intestine and the amount of stool in the colon is what the colon absorbs each day.

Colon motility—the contraction of the colon muscles and the movement of its contents—is controlled by nerves, hormones, and impulses in the colon muscles. These contractions move the contents inside the colon toward the rectum. During this passage, water and nutrients are absorbed into the body, and what is left over is stool.

A few times each day contractions push the stool down the colon, resulting in a bowel movement. However, if the muscles of the colon, sphincters, and pelvis do not contract in the right way, the contents inside the colon do not move correctly, creating the conditions that result in irritable bowel syndrome causes such as abdominal pain, cramps, constipation, a sense of incomplete stool movement, or diarrhea.