The colon is an essential part of the make up of the body. It helps with absorption of sodium and helps with water balance. It is lined with lymph nodes and is innervated with sensory and motor nerves. The entire colon is lined with "tight junctions". These little guys help to make sure that toxins don't leak into the body. Once those tight junctions are compromised micro toxins can leak out causing inflammation somewhere else. It also has receptors for Estrogen and Progesterone.
During a normal women's cycle during pms they may feel constipated due to the increase of progesterone and a decrease of estrogen. With the decrease in estrogens there seems to be an increase in the symptoms during pms. This is why some women my feel worse than better during pregnancy with their IBS due to the surge of progesterone. Most doctors don't know why there is this trigger.
Other things that can exacerbate the problem would be stress, food allergies e.g. table sugar, eggs, corn, and for some there is a family history of IBS or weak colons or an increase of bad bacteria in the gut.
What can one do to help with the symptoms of IBS? There is a complete gut test that can be done to look at pH of the colon along with seeing if there are any bacteria that aren't suppose to be in high amounts. Food allergy testing, and nutrition testing can also be done to see if there is a deficiency of vitamin that may be causing the inflammation. Also, hormone testing can be done to see if there is an imbalance.
After that there are several different treatment options that can be done per individual.
