# Physicians' attitudes and practices in the evaluation and treatment of IBS



## betterthroughscience (Jan 13, 2006)

A recent study of physicians in the USA revealed interesting information about how they perceive IBS. Diagnosis without additional testing is very common (42% of GI docs) while Family Practice and Internal Medicine docs felt that 1/3 of IBS patients needed to be referred to a GI. As for cause: GI docs are more likley to believe that prior infection and a history of abuse were the cause of IBS, while Family Practice docs were more likely to believe that diet was a cause.Unfortunately diagnosis appears to be the endpoint of the study. It would be nice if there were data on the follow up included in the study. We are left to wonder if any of these patients were ever tested to determine if there was a treatable condition causing their symptoms.In any case, the medical community apparently has a significant range in approach to IBS. If you have IBS symptoms you might benefit from seeing a doctor who has made a specialized study of IBS. Otherwise, as this study indicates, you are likely to be diagnosed on the basis of your symptoms and that will be that.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...l=pubmed_DocSum


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

I have a doctor friend--and a one time PC for my wife and I--who tells me that the GIs she knows consider Cancer the sexy disease and really are not very interested in IBS.Mark


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