Diarrhea, the Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

There are a number of symptoms that characterize Irritable Bowel Movement. Most patients display mild symptoms while some have more serious forms. The good thing though with irritable bowel movement is that while it may vary from mild to severe, it would not advance to more serious intestinal diseases such as colitis or cancer. This is due to the absence of inflammation in the intestinal muscles and a number of other aggravating conditions.

Symptoms vary from intensity to frequency. However, among the most prominent symptoms that occur in nearly all cases is diarrhea and constipation or an alternation between the two.

Constipation is either characterized with loose and watery stool. However, it may also be that the stool is too compacted which prevents the release from the anus.

Meanwhile, diarrhea is the condition of increased frequency in bowel movement. It is also marked with incontinence of stool which is similar to inability to control or delay bowel movement. There are also sudden strong urges for bowel movement which if not immediately addressed will result to incontinence. Incomplete evacuation is also felt wherein the person feels the need for a second bowel movement immediately after the first one. The succeeding ones though will be more difficult to expel.

There are some conditions that are related with diarrhea. To be able to define it clearly, let us site into the common symptoms that diarrhea has.

Inconsistency of stools. This basis alone can not be an absolute definition for diarrhea. Judging by the fact that our diet affects the hardness or softness of our stool, we cannot solely rely on this judgement in determining if we are affected with the condition.

People who eat lots of vegetables, fruits and fibers normally have looser stools while those who don't have harder ones. Liquid-like stools though which are beyond normal stools are considered diarrheal.

Frequency of bowel movement. There is no fixed numbers of bowel movement per week that would justify the normality of bowel movement. Three in a day is normal while three times a week, depending on the habit of a person may also be considered normal. Below that bar will signify the irregularity of bowel movement. Nevertheless, half of the general population practices the one-time-a-day habit as "regular clean-up".

But it is known that among healthy people, the maximum number of bowel movements is five times a day. Therefor, once they exceed this number then that would only be the moment that they can be considered to have diarrhea.

Diarrhea develops from abnormal rate of water content in the stool. For normal digestion, food is kept in liquid form through the help of water secretion from the upper small intestines, stomach gallbladder and the pancreas. Undigested foods then reach the small and the large intestines in liquid form.

The lower small intestine will then absorb the water from the undigested food, which will then turn this into a less watery substance with form.

However due to a number of reasons, this process do not occur with diarrhea. It may be due to the over secretion of water from the distal end of the small intestine, efficient absorption does not occur, or the undigested or digested food pass the small and large intestine too quickly that there is not enough time for them to remove the water from the stool.

Diarrhea, in general, contributes largely to the development and worsening of Irritable Bowel Movement. Knowing the nature of this condition will help facilitate cure both for the symptom of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and the disorder itself.