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IBD and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) both affect the digestive system and have similar acronyms. This, perhaps, explains some of the confusion. However, the two conditions are not the same.

Dr. Bhattacharya explained to Medical News Today that IBS "is a disorder of the interaction between the gut and brain, leading to diarrhea, constipation, or both, along with bloating and pain. [It] can be worsened or precipitated by stress and anxiety."

Conversely, he continued, IBD "is a disease of a dysregulated immune system, wherein the immune system starts attacking your own gastrointestinal system, leading to damage."

"The disease can lead to stress, worsening anxiety, depression, and loss of sleep because of the devastating consequences it can have on a person's daily functioning," he said. "Symptoms can include bleeding in stools, diarrhea, severe belly pain, unintentional weight loss, fevers, chills, rectal pain, fatigue, and more."

The most common forms of IBD are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Both involve chronic inflammation of the digestive tract.

Despite the relatively high prevalence of IBD, a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding surrounds it.

Here, we fight fiction with facts. To aid us on our quest, we have enlisted the help of Dr. Abhik Bhattacharya, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY.

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