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Irritable bowel syndrome is a multifactorial disease with chronic symptoms that interfere with the quality of life of patients. It represents one of the most common causes of functional abdominal pain in the pediatric population. Various theses with little evidence tried to explain the pathophysiology of the disease. Neurological origin was one of the theories explaining the disease, either by the disturbance of neurotransmitters like dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin, which have some evidence of their relation to GI tract functions. Other factors like bio-psycho-social factors that affect the pediatric population are represented in bullying, unrealistic academic expectations from the parents, continuous educational stress, and difficult relationships with peers. Other factors may be genetic abnormalities of the receptors or visceral hypersensitivity. Treatment strategies for the disease varied from physical activity like yoga to a diet like a low-FODMAP diet. Pharmacological treatment of the disease targets the presenting symptoms, represented by antispasmodic drugs treating abdominal pain/discomfort, antipsychotics that regulate the disturbance in the brain-gut axis, and other drugs targeting diarrhea or constipation that present with the patient according to the type of IBS and the condition of the patient., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Alyasi et al.)

Abstract: Background: Functional gastrointestinal disorders are common but information on their natural history is limited. Aims: To document the natural history of functional gastrointestinal disorders in a population based study and to compare with the Olmsted County study. Method: A questionnaire was mailed to the same age- and gender-stratified random sample of the Icelandic population aged 18–75 in 1996 and 2006. Results were compared to the Olmsted County study. Results: Prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorder symptoms was stable between these periods in time: 16.9% and 17.2% for irritable bowel syndrome, and 4.8% and 6.1% for functional dyspepsia. Onset of each disorder was more often higher in the Olmsted County study than in Iceland. Disappearance rates were similar for both studies. Transition probabilities varied across the different subgroups and were different between studies. The same proportion had the same symptoms in the initial and final studies. More subjects had no symptoms in Iceland (52% vs. 40%) and different symptoms at follow up (38% vs. 23%). Conclusion: Prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorder symptoms was stable over time but the turnover in symptoms was high. A higher number of subjects had no symptoms in Iceland than in Olmsted County and there was a greater variation in subjects having different symptoms at follow up. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Symptoms of the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were already described in XIX century. IBS belongs to the group of the gastrointestinal functional disorders. There are no biological markers of this disorder, so the diagnosis of IBS can be established only when all organic causes of the pa- tient's symptoms are excluded. In the study all changes in the diagnostic criteria of the IBS are discussed - beginning from Manning's Criteria dated 1978 to the newest Rome III Criteria published in 2006. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To study if and how physicians use the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) diagnostic criteria and to assess treatment strategies in IBS patients., Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 191 physicians regarding IBS criteria, diagnostic methods and treatment. Furthermore, 94 patients who were diagnosed with IBS underwent telephone interview., Results: A total of 80/191 (41.9%) physicians responded to the survey. Overall, 13 patients were diagnosed monthly with IBS by specialists in gastroenterology (SGs) and 2.5 patients by general practitioners (GPs). All the SGs knew of the criteria to diagnose IBS, as did 46/70 (65.7%) GPs. Seventy-nine percent used the patient's history, 38% used a physical examination, and 38% exclusion of other diseases to diagnose IBS. Only 18/80 (22.5%) physicians used specific IBS criteria. Of the patients interviewed, 59/94 (62.8%) knew they had experienced IBS. Two out of five patients knew IBS and had seen a physician because of IBS symptoms. Half of those received a diagnosis of IBS. A total of 13% were satisfied with treatment. IBS affected daily activities in 43% of cases., Conclusion: Half of the patients with IBS who consulted a physician received a diagnosis. Awareness and knowledge of diagnostic criteria for IBS differ between SGs and GPs.