title: [Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome].
abstract: Patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) suffer from embarrassing symptoms of abdominal pain/discomfort associated with altered bowel movement, sometimes with urgency. Routine clinical examination is not able to identify the origin of symptoms, which may lead to the physicians to doubt the symptoms patients complain of. As a consequence, patients may mistrust such physicians. Diagnosis of IBS deeply depend on the subjective symptoms and judgment of the patients, without any objective parameter to show any abnormalities. Also, any diagnostic criteria is not perfect yet. Furthermore, we do not have any potent therapeutic approach yet. Therefore, we should establish good patient-physician relationship at the beginning of the approach to IBS patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Comprehensive Medicine, Tohoku University Hospital.
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hongo
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000523:psychology; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations