IBS can seem to come from nowhere, and its sufferers often have trouble figuring out why they are afflicted. The latest research sheds some light on the problem.

A number of theories aim to explain the disease in terms of physiological disorder. These include possibilities such as smooth muscle abnormalities, altered small intestinal mobility, or a sensory condition causing normal mobility of the gut to feel strange and abnormal to a person. However, no real evidence has been found to support any of these explanations. It is in fact often the case that IBS sufferers are thought of as hypochondriacs without any real problem, and doctors who hold this belief tend to almost disregard their patients