fiber rich diet for bowel retraining

FODMAP Diet Helps Fecal Incontinence

Two-thirds of patients with fecal incontinence associated with loose stool experienced an improvement in symptoms when following a low FODMAP diet, a researcher reported here. “Fecal incontinence is an underappreciated complaint, and patients often suffer in silence,” said Stacy Menees, MD, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in a presidential plenary session at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG).  In an earlier, large population-based study of more than 71,000 people, one in seven reported having had fecal incontinence at some point in their lives. Of these, one-third reported fecal incontinence in the last 7 days, which is often associated with diarrhea and loose stool. People with diarrhea have a 5.6-fold higher risk of fecal incontinence, and people with urgency have a more than 8-fold risk of diarrhea. “So if we are going to help people with fecal incontinence, the key is to concentrate on their stool consistency,” Menees said. Read more.

Source: MedPage Today, October 8, 2018

Bowel Incontinence or Accidental Bowel Leakage (ABL)

bowel incontinence occurs in the digestive system

Bowel incontinence or ABL occurs when stool or gas unexpectedly leaks from your rectum.

Bowel incontinence, which may also be referred to as fecal incontinence, anal incontinence or Accidental Bowel Leakage (ABL), is when stool or gas unexpectedly leaks from your rectum. Sometimes you feel the urge to have a bowel movement, but can’t reach a bathroom in time.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health’s Bowel Control Awareness Campaign reports that more than 18 million Americans have bowel incontinence. As with urinary incontinence, bowel incontinence affects people of all ages, races, and both sexes. However, it is more common in women than in men, and it affects the elderly more often than younger adults (although it is not a normal part of aging).Continue reading