Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
The Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, part of the Department of Medicine, offers world-class patient care, research programs, and education and training opportunities.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) & Motility Disorders
Help for chronic constipation, diarrhea and other GI symptoms
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Take Control of Your IBS and Motility Symptoms
Specialists at the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Motility Center of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) can help you take charge of IBS and other common intestinal disorders. Working with your referring provider, our gastroenterologists create an individualized care plan just for you.
Our evidence-based approach is designed to help you feel better so you can live life on your terms. Through ongoing research, we also work to discover the underlying causes of the disorder and to develop innovative treatments for you and others affected by IBS and other conditions.
What are IBS and Neurogastrointestinal Disorders?
IBS is a functional bowel disorder. This means there’s a problem with how your bowels — specifically your large intestine, or colon — work. Some people have constipation. Some have diarrhea. Others go back and forth between the two. Additional symptoms include abdominal pain and cramping, bloating and distension. The symptoms vary from person to person.
It can be confusing to have disruptive gut symptoms with normal results on medical studies. Many motility and neurogastrointestinal disorders are diagnosed based on a set of clinical criteria that accounts for your medical history and description of symptoms. This is because most medical tests cannot yet detect the abnormalities that we know to be present in these conditions.
These can include an altered microbiome, disruptions to the neurons inside the colon, and gut inflammation and permeability. These changes aren’t picked up by standard imaging studies or biopsies of the surface of the colon such as those that you might get during a colonoscopy. It is important to work closely with a gastroenterologist you trust to establish the correct diagnosis and treatment plan.
Conditions We Treat
Conditions and symptoms we provide care for at the IBS and Motility Center include:
- Chronic abdominal pain
- Chronic nausea and vomiting
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Difficulty swallowing
- Fecal incontinence
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- Gastroparesis and dyspepsia
- Intestinal pseudo-obstruction
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Pelvic floor dysfunction
More About IBS & Motility Disorders
Treatment for IBS, Motility & Neurogastrointestinal Disorders
Treatment for your IBS, motility and neurogastrointestinal disorders depends on the severity of your condition. We will work together to carefully determine what will be best to control your symptoms with our unique multi-disciplinary approach that places the patient at the forefront of decision-making. Treatment may include these steps:
- Education
- Medication
- Nutrition counseling and dietary changes
- Physical therapy
- Pscyhobehavioral therapy
We also offer clinical trials to those who qualify. The trials are designed to help us better understand your condition and allow you to receive new therapies before they’re widely available. We’re committed to advancing medical science and bringing you leading-edge care.
If you’re interested in participating in one of these studies, or learning more about them, please call 617-667-0682 or email us.
Understanding the Gut-Brain Connection
We hear from many of our patients how their symptoms have been dismissed in the past as purely anxiety or stress. Motility and neurogastrointestinal disorders are often associated with alterations in the gut-brain signaling (for example, exaggerated signals of pain, discomfort and stress sent between your brain and your gut), but the symptoms are not “imagined” or related to mental health issues.
Signaling between the brain and the gut happens automatically, 24 hours per day. This signaling happens via the nervous system, the microbiome and the endocrine system. Your brain’s role is to receive messaging from the gut (e.g. signals of pain or discomfort) and to communicate information about your environment and your emotions to the gut.
When this communication becomes altered, as is the case in IBS, the brain can receive exaggerated signals of pain and can also send exaggerated signals to the gut. When this happens, patients often experience increased pain or discomfort as well as alterations in bowel habits.
