Irritable Bowel Syndrome News

Difficult to treat gastrointestinal conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome can be cumbersome for the patient and health care practitioner alike. Food induced symptoms are common in IBS patients with poorly absorbed carbohydrates reported as the most common group of food triggers. Symptom severity correlates with the number of food triggers.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a symptom-based condition defined by the presence of abdominal pain and altered bowel habits. The clinical phenotype can be quite diverse so while all patients have pain, some patients can have problems with diarrhea, others can have problems with constipation, and still others can have a mixture of both constipation- and diarrhea-related features.

The benefits of incorporating GI-specific psychological care for patients with irritable bowel syndrome are becoming increasingly recognized. Hence, integrating a GI psychologist can be an asset to a GI practice. Recently, we spoke with Megan E. Riehl, PsyD, a GI psychologist and clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine, about the emerging field of psychogastroenterology, the benefits of brain-gut therapies for patients and the value a GI psychologist can bring to a GI practice.

This month’s Healio Hot Topic focuses on irritable bowel syndrome and the grey areas we encounter as physicians when we evaluate and manage this most commonly diagnosed gastrointestinal condition.

While diet-based and microbiome-based therapies gain speed in the gastroenterology world, irritable bowel syndrome has seen recent approvals in the medical therapy realm. Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease took the opportunity to speak with Lin Chang, MD, about what the practicing gastroenterologist needs to know about IBS treatment today.

Patients with constipation predominant irritable bowel syndrome expressed dissatisfaction with the available treatments for their symptoms, despite coping with their condition better than their doctors expected, according to survey results published in Advances in Therapy.

Patients who eat more ultra-processed foods have a higher risk for irritable bowel syndrome, according to research published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

WASHINGTON — Patients with more perceived stressful life events in adulthood are more likely to develop irritable bowel syndrome, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week.

The majority of gastroenterologists in the United States believe that diet therapy can be as good as, if not better than, available medical therapies for irritable bowel syndrome, according to the results of a survey published in the Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility.

WASHINGTON — The presence of certain kinds of bacteria in a patient’s gut microbiome helped predict their responsiveness to cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week.