patients with irritable bowel syndrome do not have colitis even though they are sometimes referred to as having "spastic colitis. " but they frequently have symptoms that mimic colitis such as diarrhea abdominal pain and mucous in stool. nevertheless there is no inflammation of the colon (not even microscopic colitis) in patients with ibs. the cause of symptoms in ibs is not clearly known; it may be caused by either abnormal motility (abnormal contractions) of the intestinal muscles or abnormally sensitive nerves in the intestines (visceral hypersensitivity).
what diseases are not colitis?