Well Stern certainly has the BS part, that's for sure.
i know, not one of my all time best posts, but it was just sitting there ripe for the picking.
No. They are two very distinctly different conditions. My brother has Chrohns. It is is considered an IBD (Intestinal Bowel DISEASE) I have IBS (Irritable Bowel SYNDROME). IBS is not a disease but a group of symptoms of a bowel not functioning correctly but science does not yet know why that happens.
The Chrohn's and IBS are not connected. IBS is not hereditary but Crohn's does have a hereditary component to it. It is prevalent amongst those of Jewish ancestry. BTW, my brother is not Jewish so it does afflict other nationalities, too but not as prevalently.
With IBS the colon looks perfectly normal in a colonoscopy but people with IBS find it difficult to eat many foods, in particular fats which cause the colon to be overstimulated in normal people but in those with IBS the colon goes completely haywire. The result is chronic diarrehea or constipation or sometimes both alternating. IBS can be controlled with a proper diet. With Chrohns medicine is required and sometimes surgery even to the point of removing the entire colon.