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Irritable Bowel Syndrome

How to Help Your Child
Through IBS

By Jacqueline Bodnar

"Irritable bowel syndrome is characterized as a brain-gut dysfunction, which means that the brain-gut interaction of people with IBS influences their bowel pain perception and motility," says Heather Van Vorous, author of Eating for IBS: 175 Delicious, Nutritious,, Low-Fat, Low-Residue Recipes to Stabilize the Touchiest Tummy (Marlowe & Company, 2000) and The First Year – IBS: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed (Marlowe & Company, 2001). She also is the president of HelpforIBS.com, the largest online community for the disorder and has had IBS since the age of 9, so she has a firsthand understanding of what it's like to grow up with the condition.

Van Vorous explains that for people with IBS, the interaction between brain, central nervous system and gastrointestinal systems does not function properly. People with IBS have colons that react to stimuli that other people would not have reactions to.

Medical professionals seem to agree that no one really knows for sure what causes IBS. For most people, the intestines work in a coordinated rhythm, contracting and relaxing to move food from the stomach through the intestinal tract. Those with IBS experience a similar reaction but their contractions last longer and are stronger. This causes the food to get moved through the intestines at an increased or decreased rate, causing pain, bloating and gas. If the food gets moved through quickly, the result is diarrhea; if it moves through slowly, it can lead to constipation.

Although there are no exact causes that can be found for the disorder, there are some preventive measures that one can try. The Mayo Clinic suggests those that have stress-related IBS learn to find ways to reduce stress, such as getting regular exercise, yoga, practicing deep breathing and taking 20 minutes a day to do something calming like taking a bath or reading.

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