@JESSFIRGER
TWO YEARS ago, Boston dietitian Kate Scarlata stood proudly before a roomful of colleagues at a conference sponsored by the New England Dairy Council and announced her professional goal was “to make talking about IBS more sexy.” Everyone laughed.
Now the council may wish it had taken her mission a little more seriously. Scarlata has helped hundreds of people who have suffered for years, sometimes decades, with chronic and debilitating symptoms that include diarrhea, constipation, bloating, gas and excessive abdominal pain. Usually, but not all the time, a physician diagnoses her clients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or another type of functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. Many tell her about enduring years of pain, embarrassment and unhelpful doctors’ visits.