IBS

IBS

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) affects some 36 million people in the United States. It has puzzled medical professionals and researchers who have posed several theories about its origin. However, research now indicates it is caused by an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine.
After eating, IBS patients usually experience a combination of bloating, gas, abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea. These problems trigger an immune response causing flu-like symptoms -- headaches, joint pain, muscle aches and chronic fatigue. Investigators suggest that in IBS sufferers, normal bacteria from the large intestine move into the small intestine, prompting the initial bowel problems.
Bacteria, up to 100 trillion, are commonly found in the intestines; they play several important roles in the large intestine.
Common medical tests would not detect an increase of bacteria in the small intestine, so investigators took an indirect approach. Patients ingested a lactulose syrup and within three hours their breath was measured for gaseous products of bacterial fermentation.
Results indicated that 84 percent of IBS patients tested registered abnormal breath tests that suggested an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine.
Following double blind and placebo-controlled guidelines, researchers gave patients either antibiotic therapy or a sugar pill. Those with high bacteria levels who took antibiotics reported a 75 percent improvement in symptoms.
Researchers concluded that small intestinal bacterial overgrowth allows gut bacteria to penetrate the intestinal lining and enter the body.

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