Gut Reactions
Gender and the gastrointestinal tract

Men and women develop different gastroenterologic disorders, have unique symptoms and require gender-specific treatment—particularly when it comes to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gall bladder disease, and bowel transit time.

IBS

Recent research suggests that gender plays a major role in the prevalence of IBS, its symptoms and its consequences. Women have IBS three times more frequently than men. In women, IBS is one of the causes of chronic pelvic pain, whereas in men, this is not the case. A man suffering from IBS may have different symptoms than a female.

No wonder diagnosis is difficult and notoriously imprecise. Gastroenterologists have yet to reach a consensus on a standardized diagnosis criteria for the condition. The International Congress of Gastroenterology in Rome defines IBS as a constellation of symptoms including: abdominal pain relieved by defecation; an alteration in the frequency or consistency of the stool; and/or disturbed defecation. Other experts offer different criteria.

The elusive definition of IBS is aggravated by various gender issues. Due to the probability that symptoms vary between the sexes, an over-specific set of diagnostic indicators may fit one gender but not the other. For example, one particular set of diagnostic criteria fit women perfectly but turns out not to be useful for the diagnosis of IBS in men. This has lead some researchers to suggest that IBS is a somewhat different disease in women than it is in men.

Source: The Partnership for Women's Health at Columbia