Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is often diagnosed when doctors cannot find any underlying cause for symptoms like diarrhoea and/or constipation. While there are treatments available for IBS, they are not always effective and people with the condition may suffer ongoing distress and discomfort. Dietary approaches, based on excluding certain foods, may help. However, according to Professor Ronald Valori, editor of a new journal called Frontline Gastroenterology, both medication and diet have limitations when it comes to tackling the root cause of IBS, which is an overly sensitive gut. In a podcast discussion with Professor Eamonn Quigley of University College Cork, he says that hypnotherapy is an effective way of dealing with IBS. In the first 100 patients Prof Valori treated with hypnotherapy for IBS, nine out of ten said their symptoms were significantly improved. In four out of ten, IBS symptoms even stopped completely. And even when some symptoms remained, the IBS patients said they at least felt more in control.

Prof Quigley believes that probiotics might help with IBS but more needs to be known about the strain and species of bacteria that are in the various products available. There is also a need for more clinical trial evidence that a given probiotic will help with IBS (there is some evidence, but it doesn’t apply to all products). He also says that while anxiety and depression can make IBS worse, this does not mean it is a psychological disorder. You can have IBS without being anxious and depressed. In other words, IBS ought to be taken seriously as a digestive problem in its own right and not just used as description of symptoms that cannot otherwise be explained, or be put down to the patient being stressed out.

Source:

Frontline Gastroenterology