The Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders and the Rome III Process

Throughout recorded history, and alongside structural diseases of the intestinal tract, are maladies that have produced multiple symptoms of pain, nausea, vomiting, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, or difficult passage of food or feces.1 Although structural diseases can be identified by pathologists and at times cured by medical technology, the nonstructural symptoms that we describe as “functional” remain enigmatic and less amenable to explanation or effective treatment. Often considered “problems of living,” there are physiological, intrapsychic, and sociocultural factors that amplify perception of these symptoms so they are experienced as severe, troublesome, or threatening, with subsequent impact on daily life activities.