A person's bowels, also known as the large intestines, can experience a wide range of problems and disorders. Problems range from the common issues, like constipation and diarrhea, to the more chronic or severe issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn's Disease, and more. A person's bowels are responsible for finishing the digestive process and can hold on to foods and liquids that pass through the body for sometimes days on end. While the bowels hold the food, water and salts are absorbed from the body until the point when the digested material becomes fecal matter.http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/body/bowel.html# Sometimes this process can go wrong and the result can be varied.

Typical symptoms of bowel problems can include diarrhea (loose or watery stools), constipation (blockage and inability to pass a stool), bleeding, hemorrhoids, incontinence (the inability to stop the release of stool), and other problems.http://www.craighospital.org/sci/mets/bowel.asp

Some common disorders that doctors may diagnose relating to the bowels include things such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) where intestinal inflammation causes a number of symptoms and may be characterized as the disorders Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/inflammatory-bowel-syndrome Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is perhaps one of the most commonly diagnosed bowel problems, as it is a catch-all diagnosis that describes irritation that leads to cramping, bloating, diarrhea, constipation. Medical professionals are generally unaware of what causes IBS.http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/ibs/index.htm

The content in this page is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please contact a doctor before using the information presented here.