IBS, Chronic Constipation: New Guidelines Issued
IBS, Chronic Constipation: New Guidelines Issued
Probiotics are "good" bacteria that help your digestive tract. The guidelines say they can improve symptoms such as bloating and flatulence in IBS.
The guidelines give a weak recommendation to prebiotics and synbiotics for IBS. Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that help support growth of probiotic bacteria. Synbiotics are supplements that have both probiotics and prebiotics.
For both IBS and CC, fiber is a sticky issue.
"Fiber is the trickiest," Quigley says. "A person with [IBS] needs to be careful with fiber. Fiber actually makes some people worse. In constipation, the evidence on fiber, believe it or not, is also not great, though the evidence on fiber supplements is good in constipation, and to a lesser extent in [IBS]."
"I think for people with chronic constipation, slowly increasing your fiber intake is certainly a worthwhile strategy,” he says. “For people with [IBS], one needs to be more cautious, because there are problems with bloating, to which these patients are very sensitive."
Traditional treatments for IBS include antidepressants, antibiotics, drugs that affect the chemical serotonin, and psychological treatments. For CC, doctors also recommended laxatives.
"A lot of the 'traditional' treatments probably do work to some extent, some more than others,” Quigley says. But he points out that many of them have not undergone the thorough scientific testing that doctors look for. “You find there's not a lot of evidence to support them."
"That doesn't mean they don't work, it's just that they have not had high-quality research performed,” he says. “More recently, some of the more traditional laxatives ... have actually been subjected to high-quality research and have been shown to work. I think for constipation we have quite a few alternatives."
With reporting by Larry Hand, Medscape Medical News.
IBS, Chronic Constipation: New Guidelines Issued
Probiotics
Probiotics are "good" bacteria that help your digestive tract. The guidelines say they can improve symptoms such as bloating and flatulence in IBS.
The guidelines give a weak recommendation to prebiotics and synbiotics for IBS. Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that help support growth of probiotic bacteria. Synbiotics are supplements that have both probiotics and prebiotics.
Tricky Fiber
For both IBS and CC, fiber is a sticky issue.
"Fiber is the trickiest," Quigley says. "A person with [IBS] needs to be careful with fiber. Fiber actually makes some people worse. In constipation, the evidence on fiber, believe it or not, is also not great, though the evidence on fiber supplements is good in constipation, and to a lesser extent in [IBS]."
"I think for people with chronic constipation, slowly increasing your fiber intake is certainly a worthwhile strategy,” he says. “For people with [IBS], one needs to be more cautious, because there are problems with bloating, to which these patients are very sensitive."
Older Treatments
Traditional treatments for IBS include antidepressants, antibiotics, drugs that affect the chemical serotonin, and psychological treatments. For CC, doctors also recommended laxatives.
"A lot of the 'traditional' treatments probably do work to some extent, some more than others,” Quigley says. But he points out that many of them have not undergone the thorough scientific testing that doctors look for. “You find there's not a lot of evidence to support them."
"That doesn't mean they don't work, it's just that they have not had high-quality research performed,” he says. “More recently, some of the more traditional laxatives ... have actually been subjected to high-quality research and have been shown to work. I think for constipation we have quite a few alternatives."
With reporting by Larry Hand, Medscape Medical News.
