Can Anorexia Actually Cause Irritable Bowel Syndrome?


A very debilitating condition that many thousands of people have is called irritable bowel syndrome. Also known for its acronym IBS, is a condition in which a person feels cramping, bloating, or abdominal pain as a result of an overabundance of gas in their intestines.

abdominal crampin and bloatingThey may also experience either diarrhea, constipation or both intermittently. It is a condition that does not actually have a diagnosis, and although doctors can treat the symptoms, there is no actual cure. Many things can cause IBS to appear including stress, poor diet, and also anorexia.

This article will specifically address what veritable bowel syndrome is, provide an overview of anorexia and then conclude with whether or not anorexia can actually cause irritable bowel syndrome to manifest.

A Brief Definition Of IBS

If you have irritable bowel syndrome, it is often mistaken for ulcerative colitis or other diseases that can lead to cancer including Crohn’s disease. Although these diseases are primarily in the colon, it is possible that the tissues within the colon may become exacerbated as a result of a lack of water or fiber, leading to the improper movement of feces to the rectum.

What Causes Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

constipationThere are many symptoms associated with this condition including feeling bloated, noticing an overabundance of gas in the intestinal area, seeing mucus in your stool, and having dramatic bouts with diarrhea or constipation.

At the very least, you will feel a significant amount of pain as a result of cramping, or bloating within the large intestines themselves. All of these symptoms are conducive of someone that actually has IBS, however the cause of this condition is not that well-known.

Purported Causes Of IBS

If you have irritable bowel syndrome, it could be triggered for a variety of reasons. What causes it for one person may not be the same for another. In the walls of your intestines, there are layers of muscles which will relax and contract, moving in a specific rhythm that allows the feces to move from one into the other.

The type of contractions that you have will actually be representative of whether or not you have this condition. If you have stronger, longer lasting contractions, this could lead to diarrhea, bloating, and the development of gas. Weaker contractions may lead to constipation and very dry and hard stools.

Again, these are simply representative of the condition and the triggers for it maybe the food that you’re eating, changes in your hormones, the stress that you may be under our work or at home, and the possibility of an overabundance of bacteria in your intestines which can cause IBS to exacerbate.

What Is Anorexia?

anorexiaIf you have anorexia, it is an eating disorder in which people refuse to eat in order to have a slimmer figure. It could be the result of peer pressure, or simply not feeling good about yourself, motivating each person that has this condition to stop eating regularly.

Unlike bulimia, in which a person will vomit up all of the food that they have eaten, someone that is anorexic simply chooses not to eat, and as a result, it’s very thin. This condition has dramatic repercussions within the human body, causing many imbalances to occur. There is some thinking that relates anorexia to irritable bowel syndrome for the following reasons.

What Anorexia Does To The Human Body

Anorexia nervosa is a condition which can cause many problems in the human body. A person’s body mass, especially for their age, will be exceptionally slight. They may experience fatigue on a regular basis, and their joints may swell in their hands, toes and knees. Their cheeks may become extremely swollen as a result of salivary glands enlarging, especially with those that also practice bulimia.

Depression is very common, which means your hormone balance in the body will be completely off. You may experience tachycardia because you are placing quite a stress on your body by not having the proper nutrition.

Anorexia nervosaAs you are starving, your body will begin to consume what body fat you have left, and then moved to muscles and other tissues.

It is a tragic condition that primarily is the result of making bad choices, not so much an illness that has a treatment. With all of this happening in your body as a result of starving yourself, it is possible that it could cause an imbalance leading to IBS.

Is it possible that irritable bowel syndrome could be caused by anorexia? Let’s take a look at this issue and answer the question.

Can Anorexia Cause Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

The reason that many physicians actually believe that both bulimia and anorexia can lead to your tubal bowel syndrome is that there are similar symptoms associated with those that have anorexia and individuals that suffer with irritable bowel syndrome. The fact that you have an eating disorder means that you will be upsetting the natural balance of digestion and the processing of food.

When this occurs, it can cause hormonal imbalances within the body, and changes with the signals sent from the brain to the small and large intestines which can lead to aberrations in the muscles in the colon. More specifically, those that have anorexia will experience cramping, flatulence, and abdominal pain just like those that have IBS. For this reason, it can be logically assumed that if you are anorexic, it is possible that you may develop irritable bowel syndrome.


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