er outpatient testing to be done at a hospital. This battery of tests can include an upper and lower GI, a barium enema/X-ray, an EGDwhich consists of sticking a scope down the throat to look into the stomach, an ultrasound, and any other deemed necessary by the specialist. IBS will be diagnosed after it is determined that the patients organs are functioning properly and their insides are healthy, leaving no obvious cause for their symptoms. After the initial diagnosis, the doctor will share a variety of treatment options and suggestions with the patient. At this point, its important to deal with a physician that is understanding and willing to work with the patient to manage the symptoms. Since there is no one specific cure, the patient is about to begin a long journey to try to find the right balance of medication, therapy, stress relief, relaxation techniques and eating habits. Many top physicians agree that Irritable Bowel Syndrome is not a diagnosis, is a vague term, and carries little significance. A more correct name for the various GI problems that doctors associate with it should be "unknown" bowel disorder. IBS is a term that physicians will give to a patient if they have no idea what their problem is from. Its purpose is to give the patient a name for their problem so the doctor can avoid using those words you'll never hear him or her say, "I don't know." Physicians have a reputation for being more concerned with treating symptoms than finding or treating the cause, bringing suffering patients back into their office again and again *4*. Because of the common occurrence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and the inability of the medical profession to find a cause or cure for the disease, there is a pressing need to support more research. Unfortunately, research remains severely underfunded for functional gastrointestinal disorders. Less than 1% of digestive research funding, through the National Institutes of Health (NI...
