Let’s face it. We get some of our best and our worst traits from our mothers…in my case it’s the chatterbox gene (I’m calling that good 😊) and my short stature (not so good ☹️).

For many though, it’s a sensitive tummy. It seems that every IBS patient has a family tree littered with rellies that suffered from bloating, gassiness or some form of digestive distress. But does IBS really run in families?

While 10% of IBS cases are a result of a gut infection, new research released this week finds that family history does play a role in determining your chances of developing IBS. 24% of people with IBS have a family member that also suffers from the debilitating condition.

These genes may also have an effect through changes in the enteric nervous system - the rich network of nerve fibres associated with the gut. NCAM1, PHF2 and DOCK9 are all expressed in the enteric nervous system as well as the brain.

Consistent with the nervous system being more important than the gut itself, the researchers found that IBS does not share genetic roots with other gut conditions (coeliac disease and Crohn’s disease), even though they share common symptoms.

They also found that IBS was pretty common – 14% or the respondent to the survey in the UK database met the Rome III criteria. And as we’ve reported before (see our blog), IBS is more common in women than men. In this study 72% of the IBS sufferers were women.

The mixed sub-type of IBS, where people experience both hard and loose stools at least some of the time was the most common subtype (55%).

Only 35% had ever had an official diagnosis from a doctor.

They found that people with more severe IBS symptoms were more likely to suffer from back pain, limb pain and headache.

In terms of possible environmental causes of IBS. They found that people with IBS were more likely to report having had antibiotics as children, but were no more likely to have been born by caesarean, than the comparison group.