Whether you call it a spastic colon, spastic colitis, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), it is an ailment that is estimated to affect more than fifteen percent of all Americans. It can be diagnose in anyone of any age but is most common in women between the ages of twenty and thirty. IBS does not indicate a condition where the bowel is not responding in to stimuli in the normal fashion due to an irritation. Instead, it is a much more complex condition that is difficult to diagnose.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is what is known as a functional disease of the gastrointestinal tract. Functional refers to the fact that either a muscle or a nerve of the organ, which may be the small intestine or gallbladder, colon, stomach, or esophagus, is not working the way it should or behaving in a normal manner. It is difficult to pinpoint if this is due to a muscle or organ, or a communication that takes place in the spine or the brain.

There are diseases that can occur in the small intestine, gallbladder, colon, stomach, or esophagus that are diagnosed through viewing by the naked eye or with the aid of other diagnostic tests. Some require a microscope to detect an abnormality. Stomach cancer can be identified when a biopsy of the tissue is taken, either from surgery or from endoscopy, and then examined under a microscope. Any of these gastrointestinal ailments are not functional since they can be viewed or the abnormality can be measured. On the other hand, function diseases such as IBS cannot be detected through the usual means of diagnosis. Although there are some conditions that have been diagnosed with tests, these tests are not always available, they are difficult to perform, and the results are not always reliable. Therefore, when you are suffering with symptoms that may be associated with IBS, you will most likely be tested for known diseases that are non-functional and that may affect the same organs before it is determined that you have IBS based on elimination of non-functional diseases.

If your doctor thinks you may have IBS and orders tests for non-functional diseases as a way to eliminate them, then you may find that you have a non-functional abnormality after all. You could be experiencing abdominal pain and diarrhea that are thought to be symptoms of IBS. When you are tested, it may be found that you have a stomach ulcer instead. Using specific types of x-ray equipment allows the ulcer to be seen.

There is a thin line that separates functional and non-functional diseases since both are likely to have associated biochemical abnormalities or similar abnormalities in structure that may become easier to diagnose as the technology becomes available. If the abnormality is caused by something that becomes measurable so that it can be diagnosed, then the disease will no longer be a function one, but will become non-functional. Chemical levels in the organ involved, the spinal cord, or in the brain may be the cause of the disease. This means that the difference between functional and non-functional diseases isn't actually in the way they occur or from what causes them, but simply the ability to see the abnormality in some way that assure you it is there.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is certainly not the only functional disease of the gastrointestinal tract, although it is the one that is most frequently diagnosed. Dyspepsia is second in line with symptoms though to come from the upper gastrointestinal tract where most of the symptoms seem to occur. There is associated upper abdominal discomfort in the esophagus, stomach, and the nearest part of the small intestine. Bloating may occur, with or without distension or swelling. The person may have vomiting, or just a feeling of nausea during meals or not. When they do eat, they feel full after consuming a small amount of food.

Depending on the specific organs of the gastrointestinal tract that are involved with an illness, a functional disease will be placed in a category based on the organ's involvement. There has been more research performed on the esophagus and stomach since they are much easier to reach or observe than the small intestine and colon, the organs involved in IBS. Those that have done research on the latter don't commonly agree on the results. The difficulty found in observing the activities of the involved organs is blamed for the inconsistency of the research results.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome can be a frustrating disease that is alters the quality of life for some sufferers. Many people find comfort in the fact that they are not alone in the disease and that such a large number of the general population share the symptoms. It is, after all, the most common disease of the gastrointestinal tract that is diagnosed by specialist in this field or that is treated by primary care physicians. Whether these individuals are diagnosed with spastic colon, irritable colon, or spastic colitis, they all suffer from the same disease.

They also share in the frustration of having what is considered to be a functional disease which is caused by an altered physiological function that can't be identified or measured in the way a non-functional disease can. They have all been diagnosed as a means of elimination of other illnesses that can be detected through x-rays, visualizing, or examining blood or tissue samples.