Since there are several people here who has this disorder, I thought this might help explain some things. Very interesting research going on in this field. Please read the rest of the article, about the Research employed in imaging techniques to examine and analyze brain anatomical differences between 55 female IBS patients and 48 female control subjects.
:hi:
A large academic study has demonstrated structural changes in specific brain regions in female patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition that causes pain and discomfort in the abdomen, along with diarrhea, constipation or both.A collaborative effort between UCLA and Canada's McGill University, the study appears in the July issue of the journal Gastroenterology.
The findings show that IBS is associated with both decreases and increases in grey matter density in key areas of the brain involved in attention, emotion regulation, pain inhibition and the processing of visceral information.IBS affects approximately 15 percent of the U.S. population, primarily women. Currently, the condition is considered by the medical field to be a "functional" syndrome of the digestive tract not working properly rather than an "organic" disorder with structural organ changes. Efforts to identify structural or biochemical alterations in the gut have largely been unsuccessful. Even though the pathophysiology is not completely understood, it is generally agreed that IBS represents an alteration in brain-gut interactions.
These study findings, however, show actual structural changes to the brain, which places IBS in the category of other pain disorders, such as lower back pain, temporomandibular joint disorder, migraines and hip pain — conditions in which some of the same anatomical brain changes have been observed, as well as other changes. A recent, smaller study suggested structural brain changes in IBS, but a larger definitive study hadn't been completed until now.More:
http://www.physorg.com/news199028106.html