[steveshields]

Does anyone know if going to the bathroom many times a day (due to IBS) can cause wear-down in the body? Can it be good for you to go this much? Are these types of disorders more likely to lead to problems, cancers etc?

 

[Kathleen M.]

Usually Constipation is more associate with cancer rather than diarrhea.It is how long the stuff in the poop sits next to the cells that seems to be important. This is why Calcium is good for preventing colon cancer (it binds the bad things) and fiber is implicated in reducing cancer (moves things along and dilutes the chemicals that are bad).Constipation is also associated with increasing divirticuli which can become infected (little pouches in the colon)So over all going too little and the straining with that is usually more of a long term issue than going too often.K.

 

[overitnow]

A close friend of my wife had colon cancer at the sametime as I had IBS D. We were the talk of a small group of friends due to our bathroom frequency, so D can indicate a number of different causes. In the 10 years I had it I experienced godawful rectal itching in the middle of the night (I think that was from the uncleaned poo drying out), occassional bleeding from fisures from overwiping, and bad gas which still appears in a lessened pungency, but no other effects that extended past the D time. I think if I didn't develop aqny terminal effects after 10 years, you are probably safe.Mark

 

[kateandtink]

trouble is we dont know what causes cancer yet, it maybe a genetic disease or diet related. i wouldnt worry about it none of us are immortal and soemthings gota kill you. no ood worrying about what we cant control, watch for symptoms of disease though just odnt worry

 

[overitnow]

One further note on cancer, from this morning's Toronto Globe and Mail: "almost 30 per cent of cancers are due to tobacco; between 20 and 30 per cent are related to diet and alcohol; and 10 per cent to physical activity." I read that as 60-70 per cent due to our own poor choices (mine included!) and 30-40 presumably environmental. Seems to me we can all improve our odds if we clean up our acts; and we are of a group that ought to take this the most seriously, given the message our bodies are giving out.Mark

 

[Kathleen M.]

Like Mark said we actually know a whole lot about what causes cancer both from epidemiology and the molecular biology of cancer.We know which genes get damaged that lead to cancer and we know a lot about what compounds in the environment cause that damage. We know people with different versions of these genes have different relative risks of getting cancer.What is the biggest unknown is what will happen to you as an individual. Will you be the 1 in 1000 with your genes and your environmental exposure to get a specific cancer in a specific organ. We know that for each of the 1000 of you we can find there will be one cancer of that specific type, but which one is the one...that we do not know. But usually we know that people in a differnet group, much of this is environmental that you can control, like diet, smoking, etc. have a different rate... it may be people who smoke are 55 in 1000 and people who eat lots of fruits and veggies are 1 in 5,000So there is a fair amount of information one can make reasonably informed choices about which things one does is risky and which are not.Now some things we do know better than others, and sometimes something we think is true on deeper study is not, but that does not equate to no one has any idea at all.K.

 

[Faustus]

To Overitnow --It was my understanding that once you had IBS=d, you will always have it in differing amounts. What have you used to put you in remission?--flavonoids??

 

[overitnow]

Hi Faust, http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php...ic;f=5;t=000509 That will give you the story up to a certain point. It is still running somewhere in the backround, but maybe I will have a soft stool one day or a second movement or something. If I were to have a third bowl of cereal in the morning with all of that milk (yes, I have done this) I can end up in the can 2-3 times. Then it is back to normal. Certainly no more than non-IBeezers have. If I run out, which I do from time to time, there is no deterioration during the first week--I am reluctant to go any longer; I did that once a couple of years ago and just recreated the stomach burn and all out d--and I have gotten my dose down as low as a single cap a day when in an austerity mode.Because I think it related to blood brain circulation and because the flavonoids both increase that and seem to clean up some of the deposits, that would help explain the remission. Until a neurologist takes a look at this, I don't suppose it can go any further.Around my home, flavonoids rule.Mark