Twenty percent of all Albertans are plagued by symptoms of diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, bloating, and gas. More than an inconvenience for many, these problems are rarely discussed in public, leaving sufferers feeling isolated. Yet bowel symptoms can be disabling, greatly impairing quality of life.
Oftentimes bowel problems accompany spinal cord injuries and illnesses such as diabetes, AIDS, scleroderma, and chronic fatigue syndrome; yet a vast number of sufferers have no identifiable disease at the root of their bowel disruption. Women make-up the largest group.
Unexplained bowel function disorders are frequently-though sometimes mistakenly-attributed to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Having specialized diagnostic tools and knowing what to look for would help to reveal other explanations for bowel dysfunction.
One expert who has spent several decades investigating large-bowel nerve disorders is Satish Rao M.D. Dr. Rao is Professor of Medicine and Director of Neurogastroenterology and GI Motility at the University of Iowa. An internationally recognized researcher, Dr. Rao is a sought-after speaker and compassionate doctor who has developed innovative treatments for IBS, constipation, gut pain and incontinence.
"Our audience is sure to learn a great deal about gut-nerve and muscle dysfunctions--something the medical community calls neuromuscular motility disorders of the digestive tract. These disorders also get called functional GI disorders-IBS is the one people are most familiar with." says Jeanne Keith-Ferris, President and Founder of GPDA. "The larger community has no idea how disabling these digestive motility problems are," says Ms. Keith-Ferris.