| [ Summary ] |
lrritable bowel syndrome(IBS) is not life threatening, but frequently impairs patient's quality of life (QOL). Patients with IBS have significant impairment of social activity because of unemployment, frequent visits to the doctor, etc. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL), which consists of cognitive, affective and social indicators, is impaired in the socially non-adaptive group. Since psychological stress exacerbates symptoms of IBS, it is important to remove stressful environments, to relieve patients from fear of the disease and to get rid of stress brought on by patients themselves. Normalization of the bowel's daily rhythm and dietary cures are also effective. Pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy should be performed carefully on these patients. |