close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffMany people have occasional signs and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. However, you're more likely to have IBS if you:
- Are young. IBS symptoms first appear before the age of 35 for about half of those with the disorder.
- Are female. More women than men are diagnosed with this condition.
- Have a family history of IBS. Studies have shown that people who have a first-degree relative — such as a parent or sibling — with IBS are at increased risk of the condition. It's not clear whether the influence of family history on IBS risk is related to genes, to shared factors in a family's environment, or both.
References
- Irritable bowel syndrome. The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/ibs/ibs.pdf. Accessed June 7, 2011.
- Kahn S, et al. Diagnosis and management of IBS. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2010;7:565.
- Frequently asked questions. International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders. http://www.aboutibs.org/site/about-ibs/faq. Accessed June 7, 2011.
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec02/ch021666/ch021666a.html. Accessed June 7, 2011.
- Wald A. Treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed June 7, 2011.
- Wald A. Pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed June 7, 2011.
- Videlock EJ, et al. Irritable bowel syndrome: Current approach to symptoms, evaluation, and treatment. Gastroenterology Clinics of North America. 2007;36: 665.
- Camilleri M, et al. Current medical treatments of dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome. Gastroenterology Clinics of North America. 2010;39:481.
- Dorn SD. Systematic review: Self-management support interventions for irritable bowel syndrome. Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2010;32:513.
Find Mayo Clinic on