Disorders of the stomach and intestines comprise a large percentage of visits to doctors offices in this country. There are a variety of symptoms that are common, and a larger number of potential causes for these symptoms.
It has been estimated that close to 25 % of the population has gastrointestinal or Irritable bowel symptoms. These can present at any age, in any population, and don't necessarily follow specific patterns.
The symptoms that we usually ascribe to "Irritable Bowel Syndrome" include:
– Fullness or bloating
– Cramping or Aching
– Changes in stool frequency
– Diarrhea or loose movement
– Constipation
– Burning sensation
– Pain– Mucous production
All of these can vary, come in combination or alone.Typical treatment usually falls short of results because most of these are not geared at changing the cause, but at trying to change the symptom.The causes of IBS have been linked to:
Infection – bacteria,virus, parasite
Allergy – food, inhalant, chemical
Immune Dysfunction
Neurological Dysfunction
Cellular Dysfunction
Reaction to medication
In evaluating every possible cause, only then can we gather factual information on contribution to disease or illness.For some patients it involves avoiding allergenic foods, in others it is doing sophisticated testing for parasite or bacteria and then using therapy to help eradicate them and strengthen immune response. For other , it's correcting hormone deficiency. In some it involves doing all the above.
In the majority of IBS patients, part of the problem stems from immune weakness because the vitamin levels are low. This is directly caused by bowel dysfunction and malabsorption or improper digestion. Virtually all of the patients I have seen with stomach problems have vitamin deficiency.In many cases when we can't rely on the bowel to absorb the nutrients, we do intravenous vitamin therapy. This will ensure 100% absorption of all of the substances in the treatment.
This can help maximize immune response and have significant effect against infection. Certain nutrients can help stimulate and protect the lining of the intestine. (see Digestive Health formulas in the Optimal Health Products section of my website)
Although most people that have bowel problems think that it is something that they have to live with, there are a great many natural options that can create excellent results.
Remember the specific protocols are created to each individual requirement and need.
Stay tuned,
Dr. Chris Calapai
Prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms six months after bacterial gastroenteritis and risk factors for development of the irritable bowel syndrome: postal survey of patients.
Objective: To measure the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms six months after bacterial gastroenteritis and determine risk factors and associations with postdysenteric symptoms.
Design: Postal questionnaire.
Setting: Nottingham Health Authority.
Subjects: 544 people with microbiologically confirmed bacterial gastroenteritis between July 1994 and December 1994.
Main outcome measures: Prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and relative risks for development of the irritable bowel syndrome and self reported altered bowel habit.
Results: A quarter of subjects reported persistence of altered bowel habit six months after an episode of infective gastroenteritis. Increasing duration of diarrhoea, younger age, and female sex increased this risk, whereas vomiting as part of the illness reduced the risk. One in 14 developed the irritable bowel syndrome with an increased risk seen in women (relative risk 3.4; 95% confidence interval 1.2 to 9.8) and with duration of diarrhoea (6.5; 1.3 to 34 for 15-21 days).
Conclusions: Persistence of bowel symptoms commonly occurs after bacterial gastroenteritis and is responsible for considerable morbidity and health care costs.
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/314/7083/779
Mast cells: a possible link between psychological stress, enteric infection, food allergy and gut hypersensitivity in the irritable bowel syndrome.
Intestinal mast cell activation (degranulation), which results from previous enteric infection and/or intestinal allergy, may play a central role in the gut hypersensitivity in both motor response and visceral perception in the Irritable Bowel syndrome. This occurs through various mediators acting on enteric neurons and smooth muscle cells. Psychological stress may trigger this sensitive alarm system via the brain-gut axis.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9835312&dopt=Citation
Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Classification and Conceptualization.
The irritable bowel syndrome is one of a group of functional gastrointestinal disorders within the Rome classification system that is characterized by abdominal discomfort or pain associated with a change in stool habit. It is a multidetermined biopsychosocial disorder in which physiological, psychological, behavioral, and environmental factors may contribute to the clinical expression of the disorder.
These can include: (1) early life (e.g., genetic or environmental) factors; (2) physiological factors including increased motor reactivity, visceral hypersensitivity, which may be enabled by postinfectious events, and dysregulation of brain-gut communication (e.g., altered central pain control mechanisms). In addition, psychosocial factors including psychiatric co-morbidity, major trauma (e.g., abuse history), and maladaptive coping may amplify the clinical expression of the disorder and its outcome.
Currently, clinical outcome has become understood in terms of global symptom relief and health-related quality of life.