This might be a "dumb" question, but here goes: I just finished reading the Johns Hopkins Magazine article on IBS and found it very interesting, but my question has to do with one of the studies. It said that Marvin Schuster, Chief of Gastroenteroloy at Johns Hopkins conducted a study on the "peristalic contractions" in the colon. So called "normal" people had between 6-8 contractions in a 24 hour period. IBS-C types had almost no contractions and IBS-D types had 25 or more contractions per day. I know there are anti-spasmotic medications for the "D" types to slow down the contractions, but does anybody know of any medications for the "C" types to increase the contractions? I am assuming that laxatives increase contractions, but they are not safe to use all the time. It only makes sense the lack of contractions causes the constipation, so my question is: is there any medication to increase contractions that is not a laxative? If not, it seems unreasonable to me that with the advancements in medical science they can't come up with something to increase these contractions. It appears that these peristalic contractions are the cause of all our problems...both "D"s and "C"s alike.------------------"Today is the first day of the rest of your life"Rose