What does 'irritable' mean in terms of IBS?

What does 'irritable' mean in terms of IBS?

Lin Chang (UCLA Division of Digestive Diseases) gives expert video advice on: What is 'irritable bowel syndrome' or IBS?; What does 'irritable' mean in terms of IBS?; What is a 'bowel'? and more...

Irritable' means that the bowel is not functioning normally. So, whether it's the motor function, the way that it contracts and moves, or the sensation or the secretion, which are all part of its normal function - if that's altered or deregulated that's what the term 'irritable' means. It's distinctly different from inflammatory where you have discrete inflammation. It's usually referring to when you can see it grossly, and so it's different from inflammatory bowel disease. Sometimes, people confuse inflammatory bowel disease which we term IBD from 'irritable' bowel syndrome which is IBS, but they are very different disorders.