Between 20-25% of the population report symptoms of IBS at some point in their lives, but there can be confusion over gastrointestinal diseases and many people will simply ignore their symptoms and hope they will go away. Often there will be a more serious underlying condition, such as IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease), Crohn’s Disease or ulcerative colitis which can cause a lot of discomfort and distress. Suffering from IBD can mean permanent harm to the intestines or intestinal bleeding.

IBD can have a serious impact on a sufferer’s work and social life. A quarter who suffer said that they would worry about being discriminated in the work place and one third fear losing their jobs as a result of IBD and worryingly 51% of people with IBD would consider themselves to have a disability. Four out of five people suffering admitted to going to work even if they did not feel well enough and more than half reported giving more effort at work to make up for any shortcomings. Two in five sufferers said that they worry about their colleagues thinking that they do not pull their weight at work because of their IBD symptoms.

When it comes to embarrassing symptoms, over 10 per cent of the population extremely rarely or plain never visit their GP. However, with one in eight of all admissions to UK hospitals for gut conditions and almost one in four operations performed on the digestive tract, it is about time that Brits faced their fear of taboo