Movement disorders in irritable bowel syndrome

The motility of the intestinal system, or the rate at which muscles contract, can be a problem in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The colon often contracts too quickly in patients with IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D), but it contracts too slowly in patients with IBS with constipation (IBS-C).

Here’s what you need to know about mobility, IBS, and what goes wrong.

motility triggers

A variety of common factors cause changes in motility whether you have IBS or not. The following are recognized to speed up or slow down intestinal contractions:

• eat
• stress
• emotional reaction
• Hormonal changes (female)

Symptoms of motor dysfunction

In general, when IBS patients are compared to healthy people, dysfunction in several areas appears.

constipation

• The number of intestinal contractions decreases
• It takes a long time for food to pass through the small intestine and colon, known as transit time.
• There is no difference in the time it takes for the stomach to empty, known as gastric emptying rate.
• The sigmoid colon (lower end of the colon) has increased contractions, possibly blocking the flow of stool.
• Delayed transit time contributes to the development of small, difficult-to-pass stools
• Delayed transit time contributes to abdominal pain

diarrhea

• rapid intestinal contractions may occur
• Food takes less time to pass through the small intestine and colon.
• There is no difference in gastric emptying rate, so food does not leave the stomach faster than normal.
• The weight of stool remains the same
• Rapid transit time contributes to abdominal pain

Motility as a diagnostic tool

Unfortunately, very little is known about IBS. Although the majority of studies support the above trends, there are also some contradictions. The discrepancies seen in motility studies may simply be due to the difficulty in accurately measuring intestinal contractions.

Unfortunately, this measurement difficulty and the presence of these contradictory findings preclude measuring motility as a definitive tool (biological marker) for IBS diagnosis.

Future research on motor dysfunction in IBS

The good news is that while early research on IBS was dominated by motility issues, research has since expanded into more complex areas. It is now believed that motor dysfunction in IBS is intertwined with problems of visceral hypersensitivity, both of which are affected by dysfunction of the complex connections between the brain (central nervous system) and the gut (enteric nervous system). receive. This motor dysfunction appears to begin early in the small intestine.

There are also some additional initial studies investigating the influence of the gut microbiome on gastrointestinal motility. Although still in its early stages, some studies suggest that the gut microbiome contributes to irritable bowel syndrome, possibly through disruption of the gut-brain axis (GBA), visceral hypersensitivity (VH), and changes in gastrointestinal motility. This suggests that there is a possibility that

As new clues emerge about the reasons behind the motor dysfunction seen in IBS, the possibility of more effective treatment strategies opens up.