title: [Irritable bowel syndrome--criteria, sub-classification, etiology].
abstract: The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a very common condition in gastroenterology clinics, but yet it is one of the pooly understood. A international working team in Rome, 1988, proposed that IBS is a functional intestinal disorder with chronic or recurrent gastrointestinal symptoms without structural or biochemical abnormalities. IBS was sub-classified into 3 groups; abdominal pain as the prominent feature with diarrhea, with constipation, with both while painless diarrhea and simple constipation without pain were excluded from IBS. There is a lot of data suggesting that IBS has a gut dysmotility, which is influenced by many stimuli (food, hormone, drug, menses, mechanical dilatation), including psychological stress. Moreover, currently available evidences implicate that IBS is a more generalized disorder of smooth muscle function not only in the intestine but also outside of the intestine.
authors.affiliation: Gunma University, 1st Department of Internal Medicine.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sekiguchi
mesh_terms: D003109:Colonic Diseases, Functional / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012015:Reference Standards; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications