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In the United States, the National Institutes of Health is the largest single entity providing funding for biomedical research. In 2006 the NIH awarded 53,285 grants totalling $21 billion. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a bowel disorder of unknown etiology characterized by abdominal pain with diarrhea and/or constipation. An estimated 15% of the US population is estimated to exhibit symptoms of IBS, with an annual medical and indirect costs estimated to range from $20 to $30 billion.
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Funding of IBS
According to the NIH's CRISP database, 1977 was the first year in which the NIH awarded a grant whose description included the phrase, "irritable bowel." A small number of grants were awarded each year through the 1970s. The graph to the right shows the number of researchers receiving NIH grant awards for grants including the term "irritable bowel" for years 1974 to 2007.
Recent funding
In 2006, the NIH funded 56 projects focusing on Irritable Bowel Syndrome, with a total disbursement of $18,787,710.