Don't ignore chronic symptoms.

• Position: Irritable bowel syndrome

If you have been experiencing chronic abdominal cramps, diarrhea, constipation, or similar symptoms, you are not alone. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common complaint among Americans of all ages - so frequent, in fact, that many doctors consider it second only to the common cold.

Diagnosing IBS can be difficult. because it is best described as a "wastebasket" disease, indicates Malcolm Robinson, a gastroenterologist at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and medical director of the Oklahoma Digestive Research Foundation. "Before a person can be diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, the physician first has to determine that he or she doesn't have about 40 other diseases. The most common symptoms, in addition to diarrhea, abdominal pain, and constipation. are a sensation of incomplete rectal emptying and abdominal bloating."

Estimates are that 70% of the population is affected by IBS. Women are afflicted much more often than men, but very few sufferers see a physician. Instead, most simply become so used to the condition that they disregard it. "This is a dangerous practice, not only because the person's life is needlessly disrupted, but also because these symptoms can indicate a more severe, even life-threatening, problem such as inflammatory bowel disease or even colon cancer."

Although IBS is not caused by stress, that does play a big factor. "Psychological evaluations of people with IBS indicate that [many of] these patients fall into the |Type A'...