‘Embarrassing’ symptoms like bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and abdominal pain can often mean individuals affected by this condition suffer in silence. The symposium seeks to raise awareness of the condition, highlight ongoing research in the area and provide a platform for sufferers. This symposium aims to develop a deeper understanding of the human experience of IBS through the arts.IBS is an extremely common but rarely talked about and misunderstood gastrointestinal disorder that impacts hugely on an individual's quality of life. As there is no simple diagnostic test for the disorder, patients frequently undergo a lengthy series of invasive and expensive hospital testing to exclude other disorders before the symptom-based diagnosis of IBS is made. Over the last number of years, researchers at UCC based in the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) and the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, led by Professor Ted Dinan, Professor John Cryan and Dr Gerard Clarke, have focused on trying to find a molecular marker that will help gastroenterologists diagnose the disorder.

In line with this research, the IBS Symposium aims to increase awareness about the disease, to encourage a more open dialogue amongst patients and the general public, and most importantly, to provide IBS sufferers a platform to share how IBS impacts on their own quality of life. This symposium is generously sponsored by the Health Research Board (HRB).

A number of guest speakers will feature including Dr Alexander Ford, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Gastroenterologist at St. James’s University Hospital, Leeds, who will provide an update on any new and exciting developments which are already leading to new treatments for IBS. A number of guest speakers will feature including Dr. Alexander Ford, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Gastroenterologist at St. James’s University Hospital, Leeds, who will provide an update on any new and exciting developments which are already leading to new treatments for IBS. It will also feature talks from Professor Fergus Shanahan, "The unloved gut" and PhD student Paul Kennedy of the APC, who will discuss some interesting scientific findings from the most recent clinical studies carried out here in Cork during his talk entitled “Emerging Biological Markers of IBS”. A question and answer session will follow the talks.

A selection of artwork by the participants in this HRB-funded APC study on IBS will be on display in the gallery during the symposium. This provides the participants with an opportunity to express how IBS affects their daily lives. Attendees will also have the opportunity to view the “Living Loss: The Experience of Illness in Art” currently exhibiting at the Glucksman Gallery, featuring several high profile national and international artists (http://www.glucksman.org/LivingLoss.html).

The symposium is free to attend but registration is necessary. Further details and registration information are available at: http://apc.ucc.ie/