Well better late than never that I post this up here. Crystal from Living With Gastroparesis started up a Kicker Starter project to create an in-depth book about gastroparesis. This is a great idea and it looks like there has been a huge amount of interest in such a book. Gastroparesis really does not get the attention it deserves and I have no doubt this book will be of great benefit to someone who is struggling with this disease.
Kick Starter Project Link
While searching the news today I saw a lot of outlets focusing in on a study recently released by the Statens Serum Institute(Denmark) about a possible link between antibiotics and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Upon looking at the abstract and the title of the study I think we have a case once again of people mistaking Irritable Bowel Syndrome for Inflammatory Bowel Disease / Crohn’s Disease / Ulcerative Colitis. Continue reading “Study on Antibiotics is Related to Inflammatory Bowel Disease Not IBS” »
If you’ve made a new years resolution to lose weight this year & you have IBS, here’s some more motivation. A recent study(Reuters) by the Swedes at the University of Gothenburg shows that moderate to vigorous exercise for 20 – 60 minutes, 3 – 5 days per week can be helpful with Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms. The study showed 43% improvement for those in the exercise group, compared to 25% improvement for those who did not change their habits. Not earth shattering but it does hint that exercise can be helpful for Irritable Bowel Syndrome & of course exercise is usually good for you overall, something that most people probably don’t get enough of. Continue reading “Weight Loss Resolution Might Have Hidden IBS Benefits” »
A recent study review found that 12 out of 16 probiotic studies saw better outcomes when using multiple probiotic strains instead of just a single strain. These studies covered many different topics such as inflammatory bowel disorder, Helicobacter pylori, gut function & others.
I don’t find this terribly surprising as our digestive tract is teaming with all sorts bacterial flora. There is no jack of all trades probiotic that does everything for the digestive tract. There are also many different sub-strains of probiotics out there. If you go to the store you’ll probably see a lot of bottles labeled as being L. Acidophilus, however each company breeds it’s own strain(unless the companies outsourced from same lab) of L. Acidophilus so you might even get slightly different results depending on which brand you choose. There also may be a host of probiotic sub-strains we haven’t discovered yet. This is why something like fecal transplantation is interesting because it takes a working bacterial ecosystem and transplants it into someone who does not have one. It’s hard to slowly rebuild a healthy bacterial ecosystem with only a handful of bacteria, especially when we do not know which bacteria are most effective for each person & we may even be missing some.
I reported about a study on Rifaximin a few months ago. I was not that impressed by the results at that time. Well there has been a new study released on Rifaxmin showing pretty much the same unimpressive results. The facts are still that only about 11% saw benefit over placebo. That difference seems even more dubious what with the recent placebo study showing a similar level of efficacy. Who knows if the Rifaximin is really doing anything at all? Additionally patients are only tracked for 10-weeks, there is no information for what happens after that. It appears I am not alone in my concerns regarding the study. If you check out the comments on the study you’ll find there are a few doctors chiming in with their concerns:
“Here we go on another journey into a poorly supported area of new treatment…….this article barely shows a statistically signifincant difference, and certainly not a convincing one.” – MICHAEL ELIASTAM, MD
“This study is problematic in several ways, not least of which is the long list of companies involved, and somehow attached to the trial’s outcome.” – DAVID GLUCK, MD
“As a practicing gastroenterologist for 12 years as well as an IBS sufferer for almost 40, I realized long ago that we cannot treat IBS with a pill and that IBS is for life, and not for 10 weeks. I have been following Dr. Pimental’s studies for years, and I have yet to see anything last as long as the stress and psychological manipulation techniques that I and many others have been advocating for years.” – KIMBERLY CUSATO, MD
So buyer beware, Rifaximin may not be all it’s cracked up to be or what the hype my have you believe.
Chelsey Macey is the plaintiff of a lawsuit taking place in the Utah U.S. District Courts against Mission Organics, Natural Selection Foods & Dole Foods; who grew, packaged & distributed spinach that was contaminated with E. Coli in 2006. Macey’s infection with E. Coli was so severe that she was near death before recovering and developing chronic intestinal dysfunction which was diagnosed as Post-Infectious Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Continue reading “Lawsuit Claims E. Coli Caused Irritable Bowel Syndrome” »
A recently published study has some interesting insight on how the placebo effect may help Irritable Bowel Syndrome patients. A placebo in medical terms is essentially a “fake treatment” usually used to test the validity of drugs during testing. When a drug is being tested, patients are split into different control groups. One group is given a placebo(often a sugar pill) while the other is given the actual drug. The two groups are compared to see how effective the drug was versus the placebo. The interesting thing about the placebo is that in many cases people will see improvement in their symptoms during these studies even when they’re taking the placebo. This is called the “placebo effect”, where by the body responds to the notion that whatever they are being given is of benefit & somehow improves the persons condition despite the fact that there was nothing special in the pill. The actual reasons behind the placebo effect are still unknown, but it is quite interesting that the body has this response and it might prove beneficial for some people as this study shows. Continue reading “Some Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients Respond to Placebo” »
Well unfortunately it seems like the cost of Iberogast has gone up considerably over the last year or so. About a year ago I could purchase Iberogast for right around $18 USD(free shipping), now the cheapest place is around $35 after shipping costs. This is practically a 2x increase. I’ve searched around for alternatives, even going so far as to see if it can be imported from Germany, but no luck.
So far the cheapest place for Iberogast is still Amazon.com as they list multiple vendors and you can choose the cheapest one. Also note that many of them operate out of Canada, so there may be a longer delay when shipping.
You can read my Iberogast review if you haven’t tried Iberogast before.
Bacterial Vaginosis & Yeast Infections affect millions of women each year. In many cases a quick trip to the store or to the doctors office for medication is enough to cure the problem. However, there are many women out there who will only be cured for a short period of time and then their symptoms return & become chronic. Before you know it repeated trips to the doctor or the store do not result in a permanent resolution to the problem & it can be extremely frustrating. I’ll highlight some tips and products that may help you get back on track to having a healthy vagina. Continue reading “Cures & Treaments For Chronic Bacterial Vaginosis, Yeast Infections or Vaginal Itching” »
This was originally posted on my Diet IBS Guide…
I had someone ask if they would be able to get unemployment insurance if they quit their job due to the symptoms of their Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This is somewhat tricky & suffering from a chronic illness far from guarantees that you will receive unemployment benefits if you quit or are fired. Continue reading “Unemployment Insurance and Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Other Medical Conditions” »