Food Intolerance, Liver Cleansing and Digestive Disorder Treatment in London - Dirk Budka |
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IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME (IBS)
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is one of a group of functional gastrointestinal disorders characterized by abdominal discomfort or pain and frequently associated with a change in bowel movements.
In most of the older medicine books you will find IBS under “psychological medicine” in which the sufferer are often described as “perfectionists”, “obsessional” and “introspective”.
Nowadays IBS is more and more accepted by the medical profession, although many progressive practitioners doubt the existence if IBS, which is often used as an umbrella term for several other intestinal problems.
To visit Dirk Budka's IBSFORUM website CLICK HERE
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is defined as a benign, chronic disease of altered bowel habits and abdominal pain. It is considered a functional type of bowel disorder and is said to be caused by heavy spasms in the colon.
The majority of sufferers (75% or more women) have their first symptoms not before the age of 15 and not after 40.
Ten multinational working teams developed the diagnostic criteria called ROME II, which is based on an older criterium from Manning et al.
"Twelve weeks (need not to be consecutive) or more in the past twelve months of abdominal discomfort or pain that has two out of these three features:
a) pain-relief/relief of discomfort with defecation
b) onset associated with a change in frequency of stool
c) onset associated with a change in form (appearance) of stool.
The following symptoms are not essential for the diagnosis, but one or more are usually present:
a) abnormal stool frequency (greater than 3 bowel movements per day or less than 3 bowel movements per week).
b) Abnormal stool form (lumpy/hard or loose/atery) in more than 1/4 of defecations
c) Abnormal stool passage (straining, urgency, or feeling of incomplete evacuation)
d) Passage of mucus in more than 1/4 of defecations
e) Bloating or feeling of abdominal distension in more than 1/4 of days.
Important are the so called RED FLAG factors. If one of the following fit, an IBS diagnosis might be wrong and if not yet done, several tests should be carried out:
Inflammatory Bowel Disease, new or recent onset in patients older than 50 years, palpable abdominal or rectal mass, rectal bleeding, recent antibiotic use, weight loss, anaemia, family history of cancer.
Special diets, precribed by a GI specialised nutritionists are necessary tools to manage the conditions.
The medication used in the management of IBS has a very low success rate and only target the symptoms: antispasmodics, antidepressant, simethicones, osmotic laxatives, loperamide.
This is not very encouraging for a patient. But the natural treatments in the management of IBS also have a very low success-rate.
Trials and double blind trials showed that probiotics ('friendly bacteria')had very different results: from reduced intestinal gas to worsening of bloating and no relief whatsoever. Psyllium seeds showed no positive results in tests. High fibre intake can be the right way forward, but in other cases can worsen the problem. Most double blind trials and/or placebo chinese herbal medicine showed abysmal results. Studies showed that acupuncture, which is extremely helpful in so many other cases, failed to show effects. In a recent test 60 people with IBS found fake acupuncture just as beneficial as traditional acupuncture. Hypnotherapy... showed some remarkable benefits when used together with very special elimination/exclusion/provocation-diets.
As in allergies/food intolerances (and there are many connections between food-intolerances and IBS) there are many dubious and questionable test-methods around. Where is the connection? As a functional condition, IBS is not detectable. There is no ulcer, no inflammation. And in food-intolerances? Most of them are not detectable (blood, stool, urine). Perfect play ground for "new sensational test methods".
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