Irritable Bowel Syndrome - Who is More Susceptible and 4 Risk Factors

There are many gastroenterological diseases and one of the most common is irritable bowel syndrome, more commonly called as IBS.

Just like every other disease, it is safe to assume that there are certain people who are more susceptible to irritable bowel syndrome than others. They are the ones who are called at "high risk for IBS." Knowing these factors can actually be very helpful in the early detection of it.

Currently, there is no well-established etiology of irritable bowel syndrome. Since the etiology is not that established, diagnosis of IBS can also be quite difficult. There are no known specific laboratory tests that can single-handedly point to irritable bowel syndrome as the condition of the patient. Another difficulty in diagnosing it is that its signs and symptoms are more or less the same with other gastroenterological diseases. Because of this predicament, a set of guidelines has been created to help diagnose this syndrome.

You have learned that the cause of irritable bowel syndrome is not yet fully known, but there are certain risk factors that may precipitate some people being more vulnerable to IBS than others.

1) A factor that you would most likely consider first is the sex of the person. It has been known that 80% of all people who suffer from this disease are women. Just like the syndrome's etiology, it is not clearly known why this is the case. Some researchers suspect that this could possibly be an effect of the changes in the hormones of a woman during her menstrual cycle.

2) Age is another risk factor that can be considered in IBS. Although anybody at any age can be affected by irritable bowel syndrome, there is a certain age group whose members are more susceptible compared to the members of other age groups. This range of this age group is 13 years old to 40 years old. It has also been observed that people over 50 years old are the least susceptible to this syndrome.

3) Another risk factor is stress. Some studies do show that IBS can be caused by stress or some psychiatric disorder. This can be anything from stress of work and everyday life or a very traumatic incident. It is also believed that signs and symptoms of IBS can be relieved by therapy.

4) Diet and eating habits are other risk factors. They may not directly cause irritable bowel syndrome but a bad diet plus poor eating habits could easily affect your digestive system which may in turn help develop the syndrome.

If you are at risk for IBS and you think that you have been affected, it would be best to consult your doctor right away.