unhappy gut

A term used by some authors who believe that the more widely used ‘irritable bowel’ has lost its specificity

'unhappy gut'

Functional colitis A term introduced because 'irritable gut' had lost its specificity; 'UG' refers to dysfunctional GI smooth muscle that is not 'in the mood' to function properly, while 'irritable gut' refers to colonic changes attributed to unidentified intraluminal irritants. See Inflammatory bowel disease, Irritable bowel syndrome.