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Diarrhea and abdominal cramps are the major symptoms of both irritable bowel syndrome and colitis, but the two conditions are distinctly different diseases. Irritable bowel syndrome, which is also called spastic colon, nervous bowel or irritable colon, is caused by excessive spasms of the large intestine. It is much more common than colitis; indeed, it is probably the most common abdominal complaint brought to the attention of doctors. It usually begins during late adolescence or early adulthood and, for unknown reasons, women are affected twice as often as men.