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Binge drinking can worsen GI symptoms in women with IBS
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Severity of gastrointestinal symptoms among women with irritable bowel syndrome was influenced by episodes of binge drinking in a recent study.
Researchers evaluated data from 166 women with IBS aged 18 to 48 years, along with 48 healthy controls, who recorded their alcohol and tobacco use, caffeine intake and daily GI symptoms over the course of approximately 1 month. Consumption of more than four drinks in a day was considered an episode of binge drinking. Participants also completed a Bowel Disease Questionnaire to establish IBS subtype: IBS-diarrhea (IBS-D), IBS-constipation (IBS-C) or IBS-mixed.
Drinking habits were not significantly different between groups, with a mean of 0.51 drinks consumed per day among those with IBS, compared with 0.53 among controls (P=.64). Approximately 33% of participants reported at least one binge-drinking episode, with a mean of 4.9 consumed drinks per episode among binge drinkers in each IBS subtype.
Associations were observed between drinking habits and GI symptoms for patients with IBS, but not among controls. Women with IBS who reported binge drinking had more severe symptoms than those who did not (P<.001 for each symptom). No associations were observed between IBS symptoms and moderate or light drinking.
Investigators noted strong associations between several GI symptoms and incidence of binge drinking the day before symptom onset, including indigestion (OR=2.0, 1.1-3.6), diarrhea (OR=2.1, 1.2-3.5), stomach pain (OR=2.1, 1.2-3.7) and nausea (OR=2.4, 1.2-4.8) (95% CI for all). These associations remained significant after adjusting for other factors, including tobacco use and stress levels during the previous day, and they were stronger among women with IBS-D than those with either IBS-C or IBS-mixed.
“Our data indicate that women with IBS, particularly women with IBS-D, who binge drink may experience an increase in GI symptoms that is not limited to their episodes of binge drinking,” the researchers wrote. “Although our findings would require replication before conclusions are to be drawn, these findings provide early indications that the pattern of alcohol intake (ie, binge drinking) predominantly influences GI symptoms of women with IBS.”
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