Research: New Insights into Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

[Meleber]

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Gastroenterology & Hepatopancreatobiliary Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 26 October 2024

"Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a highly prevalent gastrointestinal disease that represents a significant cause of morbidity worldwide. The disease significantly affects patients’ quality of life, work productivity and social functioning. The pathophysiology of IBS is not completely understood and its diagnosis should be made based on the Rome IV criteria. Nevertheless, the severity of the patient’s symptoms and concerns sometimes drives the physician to perform useless and/or expensive diagnostic tests, transforming IBS into a diagnosis of exclusion. Therefore, a deeper knowledge of IBS mechanisms is mandatory to improve the management of the disease. Conventional treatments include lifestyle changes, diets, probiotics, laxatives, antidiarrhoeals and antispasmodics. More recently, other therapies have been investigated in randomized controlled trials and observational studies, including faecal microbiota transplantation, central neuromodulators, intestinal secretagogues, drugs acting on opioid or 5-HT receptors, minimally absorbed antibiotics, and psychological therapies.

The scientific community will certainly benefit from updated reviews focusing on the optimal management of IBS. In this Special Issue, we invite you to submit your updated review addressing the management aspects and/or therapeutics of IBS."

Source: mdpi.com/journal/jcm/specia...

[Rob223344]

Very interesting! I have been taking, and have been very impressed, with a probiotic called Ferrocalm, and have corresponded with its developer in Cambridge, Dr Jenny Bailey Cooper. Ferrocalm is Streptococcus Thermophilus, but unlike “ ordinary” strains of this bacterium , has been engineered to utilise iron which is released into the gut during exacerbations of IBS, and which is utilised by pathogenic bacteria. Lactobacilli , Bifidobacterium, as well as “ “ ordinary”Streptococcus Thermophilus, do not have this properly which likely accounts for the fact that some people find that they don’t work. I have had almost six months of adjustment symptoms which began on day 1, and don’t suggest that I have developed IBD or a GI neoplasm. I certainly would contend, based on my own experience with this probiotic, and with several others, that it should be considered as the first port of call for new and existing IBS sufferers. As a corollary, there is strong evidence that iron supplements, taken in the absence of iron deficiency anaemia, damages the gut microbiome and encourages pathogenic bacteria. Furthermore, I suspect that many people, including many IBS sufferers, take vitamin supplements containing iron, as I did until I became aware of the studies , without realising that there is this potential problem.