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The goal of this book is to increase your basic knowledge about Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and potential treatments of this common problem. In this book, I have tried to elaborate on several aspects of this disorder and to answer frequently asked questions. The format of the book is 'question and answer' or 'Q and A'. These are real questions and answers that have been asked by patients and answered by me. The format is very similar to what occurs during a typical visit to your physician's office. Thus, you would save a lot of time and money by going through this book. Additionally, the language of the book is straightforward, in an effort to enable individuals with a non-medical background to understand the basic concepts of IBS. There are currently numerous publications that address Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Many of them are good resources for patients with IBS and most of them are really comprehensive. The advantage of this book over other publications is in the simplicity of the content and emphasis on subtle but important issues that you confront in your daily life. I tried to avoid discussing complicated and impractical issues to ensure that you will easily grasp the major issues related to IBS. My aim is to create a realistic impression of the disorder in your mind. This knowledge not only will improve your understanding of the disorder, but also will provide you with new insight into treatment options. I believe this simple but broad view of the disorder reduces most of your fears and anxiety about IBS and offers you increased confidence and control over your illness. The idea and inspiration of this book occurred to me while I was answering questions that patients usually raise during typical office visits. I thought that by putting these questions and answers in a small booklet, I would save a lot of time for both my patients and myself. I never intended to publish this book on a large scale basis. However, within a short time, 10,000 copies of the first edition were sold and the second edition was published shortly thereafter. The book was very successful and received extremely positive feedback. In this edition, I present the most up to date information and recent advances in the field. I also used the help of several consultants in writing this new edition. Adding their knowledge as well as more than 10 years of experience in diagnosis, treatment and research in this field, I believe this book presents cutting-edge information about IBS in simple terms and helps you to understand the problem. This knowledge will not only increase your coping capability, it will help you to be an effective part of a management team. Here, I use a lot of medical terminology and jargon that you may have already heard of in your numerous medical encounters. However, simple explanations of these words are presented throughout the book. The creation of this book is a wonderful project and was accomplished because of contribution of many particularly all of the patients who have shared their stories with me and were real inspiration of this project. Also, I am very grateful to my consultants who shared their wisdom and knowledge to readers of this book. Thank you all for a job well done. Ashkan Farhadi, MD, MS, FACG