Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may ...

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may have a genetic constituent according to a Dec 10 2003 of recent origins release from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Researchers asked patients with IBS and their spouses who did not have IBS to ended a questionnaire about bowel disease and provide the names and addresses of their direct relatives. Researchers then sent the questionnaire to 355 of the patients' and spouses' relatives. Of the 71% who answered 17% of the patients' relatives also had IBS, compared to and nothing else 7% of the spouses' relatives.

Irritable bowel syndrome affects approximately single in 10 adults, and commonalty who have the disease many times report that they have family members who have experienced similar symptoms, including abdominal cramping, constipation, and diarrhea. Researchers will ne to determine further whether the familial connection of IBS is caused by dint of a gene or whether the disease flash on the minds as a result of shared environmental factors.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome's Possible Genetic Link Studied at Mayo Clinic Researchers (news release, Rochester, Minn: Mayo Clinic, Dec 10 2003) http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2003-rst/2057.html (accessed 2 Jan 2004)

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