Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Children
Introduction
Irritable Bowel Syndrome Research
Video References
Introduction
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a
digestive disorder that causes abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea,
and constipation--or some combination of these problems. IBS affects people
of all ages, including children.
IBS is classified as a functional disorder because it
is caused by a problem in how the intestines, or bowels, work. People
with IBS tend to have overly sensitive intestines that have muscle spasms
in response to food, gas, and sometimes stress. These spasms may cause
pain, diarrhea, and constipation. In children, IBS tends to be either
diarrhea-predominant or pain-predominant. Diarrhea-predominant IBS is
most common in children under age 3. The diarrhea is usually painless
and alternates with bouts of constipation.
These children usually have fewer than five stools a day,
and the stools tend to be watery and soft. Pain-predominant IBS mainly
affects children over age 5. In the younger children the pain tends to
occur around the navel area, and in older children, in the lower left
part of the abdomen. The pain is crampy and gets worse with eating and
better after passing stool or gas.
In addition to the symptoms described above, children
with IBS may also have headache, nausea, or mucus in the stool. Weight
loss may occur if a child eats less to try to avoid pain. Some children
first develop symptoms after a stressful event, such as teething, a bout
with the flu, school problems, or problems at home. Stress does not cause
IBS, but it can trigger symptoms.
To diagnose IBS, the doctor will ask questions about
symptoms and examine the child to rule out the possibility of more serious
problems or diseases. IBS is not a disease--it is a syndrome, or group
of symptoms that occur together. It does not damage the intestine, so
if the physical exam and other tests show no sign of disease or damage,
the doctor may diagnose IBS.
In children, IBS is treated mainly through changes in
diet--eating more fiber and less fat to help prevent spasms--and through
bowel training to teach the child to empty the bowels at regular, specific
times during the day. Medications like laxatives are rarely prescribed
because children are more susceptible to addiction than adults. When laxatives
are necessary, parents must follow the doctor's instructions carefully.
Learning stress management techniques may help some children.
top
Irritable Bowel Syndrome Research
The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse collects resource
information on digestive diseases for the Combined Health Information
Database (CHID). CHID is a database produced by health-related agencies
of the Federal Government. The CHID database located on the World Wide
Web at http://chid.nih.gov/simple/simple.php, provides titles, abstracts,
and availability information for health information and health education
resources. See the results of our CHID research on
"Irritable Bowel Syndrome," June 16, 2004.
top
Video
References
Video: Irritable
Bowel Syndrome Tutorial - The National Library of Medicine
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/irritablebowelsyndrome/htm/index.htm
top
|
