Disclaimer: Knowledge is the best medicine, but YHC advice is not based on your specific medical condition. We encourage you to learn more, then make an appointment and really talk with your health care provider. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.
If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts. ~Albert Einstein
Previously thought to be a psychiatrically mediated condition, IBS was overlooked in research into cause and management options. However, we’ve discovered that IBS results in an estimated $8 billion in direct medical costs annually, with IBSers incurring 74% more direct health care costs than non-IBS sufferers, and IBS patients having more physician visits for both GI and non-GI complaints.
The IBS in American Women Survey of 1999 revealed some startling facts about our aggressive quest for treatments for women suffering from IBS—we remove their organs until they go away. The study revealed that women with IBS reported 71% more abdominal or intestinal surgeries than women without IBS (58% vs 34%). The rates of reported gallbladder operations, hysterectomies, and appendectomies were twice as high or higher among women with IBS. Yeow.
In addition, women with IBS were more likely to leave the labor force and likely to turn promotions due to symptoms related to IBS. Rather than a glass ceiling, a significant portion of our population has been held back by an IBS ceiling.
Are the ‘Rome Criteria’ reliable for diagnosis of IBS?
If A equals success, then the formula is: A=X+Y+Z.
X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut. ~Albert Einstein
Really, that simple vacation veracity does show durability. Studies up to 15 years after the initial diagnosis based on Rome Criteria show that less than 1% end up re-diagnosed with an alternate disorder. Some basic testing should be done in all who may have IBS based on the Rome Criteria: Thyroid testing, stool tests for those with diarrhea, and testing for celiac disease. Age appropriate colon cancer screening should be performed as well, as the diagnosis of IBS does not prevent the average lifetime risk of that very preventable cancer.
Do not keep your mouth shut should you experience what we call a red flag symptom. These symptoms warrant a more extensive evaluation, whatever your age: Fever, persistent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, severe constipation, or unexplained weight loss.
Sign over a gynecologist's office: "Dr. Jones, at your cervix."
Door to endoscopy:
"To expedite your visit, please back in"
Door of a plastic surgeon's office:
"Hello. Can we pick your nose?"
In a hospital:
"If we see smoke, we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action."
On a maternity room door:
"Push. Push. Push."
At an optometrist's office:
"If you don't see what you're looking for, you've come to the right place."
In a podiatrist's office:
"Time wounds all heels."
A new medical facility with several different specialists opened in a trendy part of the city last month.
Wanting to be different and creative, the administration decided that each doctor's office f would, in some way, be representative of his practice.
So, when construction was complete, the eye doctor's door had a peep hole, the orthopedist's door had a broken hinge, the psychiatrist's door was painted all kinds of crazy colors, and the proctologist's door was left open - just a crack.
"We have the results back from your test and... I'm sorry, you have an extremely contagious deadly disease known as G.A.S.H."
"G.A.S.H?" replies the man. "What the heck is that?"
"It's a combination of gonorrhea, AIDS, SARS and herpes," explains the doctor.
"My gosh, Doc!" screams the man in a panic, "what are we going to do?"
"Well, we're going to put you on a strict diet of pizza and pancakes," says the doctor matter-of-factly.
"Will that cure me?"
"No," says the doctor, "but it's the only food that will fit under the door."
Good Health Tips 
