What is the current belief about the causes and risk factors for IBS?
- The pathogenesis of IBS appears to be multifactorial.
- Factors believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of IBS include heritability and genetics, environment and social learning, diet, intestinal microbiota, low-grade inflammation, central processing of visceral sensations, gut dysmotility, and disturbances in the neuroendocrine system of the gut.
- IBS is the result of a complex interaction between psychosocial and physiologic factors via the brain-gut axis.
- Early life factors, such as family attitudes toward illness, major loss, or abuse history, or, possibly, genetic predisposition, may influence a person’s psychosocial development (e.g., psychological state, coping skills, social support, or susceptibility to life stress) or gut dysfunction (e.g., gut dysmotility or hypersensitivity).
- Although closely interrelated, the importance of any one factor in the generation of IBS symptoms varies greatly between individuals.
