| | ArabMedicare.com News
Beirut |
October 30, 2004
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Exposing the Hidden Syndrome: Irritable
Bowel
Lebanon's
First Awareness Campaign on IBS
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 (ArabMedicare.com News) Irritable Bowel
Syndrome (IBS) has long been an overlooked and underappreciated
disorder for the patients who suffer from it and the physicians who
are challenged to diagnose and treat it.
IBS affects the patient's quality of life more negatively than
migraine, asthma, depression, and diabetes. Not only does it disrupt
daily life and social activities, but also IBS patients miss on
average three times more days from school or work than the general
population. Yet, until recently, it was also one of the least talked
about medical conditions.
However, now in Lebanon, men and women suffering from Irritable
Bowel Syndrome (IBS) will be able to understand and better manage
their condition through the country's first ever IBS awareness
campaign.
The 6-month awareness campaign, carrying the slogan "Don't Hide
Your Gut Feeling", delivers the key message that IBS is a
serious medical syndrome, which can disrupt a person's quality of
life if not treated correctly.
At a recent roundtable discussion held in Beirut for the launching
of the campaign, Dr. Raja' Shatila, a member of The Lebanese Society
of Gastroenterology, gave journalists an in-depth overview of the
symptoms, management and the latest advances in the treatment of
IBS.
Dr. Shatila believes "an awareness campaign can serve as an
educational vehicle to help sufferers live better with their
disease."
According to Dr. Shatila, "IBS is defined as a functional
disorder. She explained, "Symptoms include pain or discomfort
in the abdomen characterized by a change in the bowel habit such as
constipation or diarrhea or alternating between both."
Dr. Shatila added that the cause of IBS is not known, however the
syndrome can be triggered by stress, or certain foods. Data also
indicates that women are 2-3 times more likely to have IBS than men.
Samia, an IBS sufferer for many years now, believes "it is
about time an awareness campaign on IBS takes place." She adds,
"People have no idea how hard it is to live with IBS. Many
women suffer alone because they feel their condition is
underestimated by their loved ones and doctors."
IBS is a syndrome that has long been a tricky diagnosis, attributed
as the cause of many chronic gastrointestinal diseases.
In the year 2000, international experts developed the Rome criteria
as a standard diagnostic tool, which allowed for a clear-cut IBS
diagnosis and hence reduced physician-patient frustration.
The latest version of the guidelines, the Rome II criteria,
determines an IBS diagnosis when the sufferer has experienced
abdominal pain or discomfort for at least 12 weeks out of the
previous 12 months. Symptoms can occur over a single long period or
in several shorter bouts.
It is estimated that the direct and indirect expenditures due to
IBS, costs the eight most industrialized countries around US$ 41
billion annually, mostly spent on ineffective over-the-counter drug
medications.
Moreover, new prescription drugs such as Zelmac are now being introduced into
Lebanon and other global markets for treating patients with IBS. Zelmac is the first
in a new class of medicines, known as 5HT4 agonists, which was
developed by the Swiss global pharmaceutical manufacturer, Novartis
AG, for the treatment of predominant IBS symptoms, namely cramping,
bloating, constipation or diarrhea.
IBS affects people differently; some patients may have severe
constipation, others severe diarrhea, or some may have spells of
both. A better understanding of IBS and the availability of new
treatments coming to market will help people in the future talk about
this unpredictable and sometimes debilitating condition more openly.
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