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#article: Study confirms IBS linked to more diseases (29/09/06)

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Yowie
Regular Member
Joined : May 2006
Posts : 91
Posted 10/2/2006 7:01 PM (GMT -7)
Study confirms IBS linked to more diseases
By ANNE DECECCO
UPI Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- A new study confirms previous findings that irritable bowel syndrome is linked to fibromyalgia, a chronic pain and fatigue disorder, as well as migraines and depression.

Using data from a large U.S. health plan from January 1996 through June 2002, lead researcher Dr. Alexander Cole, an epidemiologist at the I3 Drug Safety Company, and colleagues identified a group of 97,593 people with a medical claim for IBS and a group of 27,402 people who had no claims associated with the disorder.

The data was taken from eight states in the Midwest and southern parts of the United States where the health-plan membership was most highly concentrated. Almost 75 percent of the IBS group was made up of women, whereas the non-IBS group was equally divided between men and women.

The study, published in the Sept. 27 issue of BioMed Central Gastroenterology, showed 264 people out of 1,000 people in the IBS group were more likely to have any of the three disorders.

Overall, people with IBS were 60 percent more likely to suffer from at least one or more of the three disorders. In contrast, in the non-IBS group, the prevalence of having at least one of the three disorders was 118 per 1,000 people.

The study also found that people with IBS were 40 percent more likely to have depression.

"The topic itself isn't new in a clinical setting. But I wanted to use a larger, population-based setting," Cole said. "We examined a large pool of participants from the general public, which makes it different from previous studies," he said.

Based on substantial evidence that several different classes of anti-depressants are effective for treating symptoms of IBS, fibromyalgia, migraines and depression, Drs. James Hudson and Harrison Pope, professors of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and their colleagues developed a hypothesis in 1990 that these disorders may all be symptoms of one common and underlying condition. Since then, numerous studies have also shown results linking these disorders.

"No one knows what this postulated imbalance is at this point," Pope said. He said that there is preliminary evidence that the disorders occur frequently within the same family tree, in addition to their occurrence within one individual.

"Some sort of specific genetic locus where one gene causes the body to create an abnormal protein could ultimately lead to the disorders. Not only the co-occurrence within individuals, but also the co-aggregation within families of the disorders shows that genetics are one very likely possibility," Pope said.

Pope added that while these linked disorders have been studied before, they continue to be mysterious and that future studies might do well to examine genetic links.

One of the major limitations of the study is it is based solely on one health-insurance plan's data. The prevalence of disorders among people with IBS also may differ substantially among people with different access to healthcare.

The study's authors also write that there is ample room for disorders to be misclassified in insurance claims and that the insurance claims may not accurately reflect the severity of a given disorder. In addition, disorders are given equal weighting regardless of their duration.

Despite these limitations, Pope claims that the study is a valid contribution to the subject. When asked how practitioners can use this information to help patients, he said that doctors should have a heightened sensitivity to the co-occurrence of the disorders and ask patients if they suffer from any of their other symptoms. In addition, he suggested that anti-depressants may serve as valuable treatment.

The confirmation of this hypothesis only raises more questions, Cole said. Future studies might look at whether the association between IBS and the three disorders remains when studying sub-groups of people, he added.
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starjasmine
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Joined : Jul 2005
Posts : 5
Posted 10/2/2006 8:24 PM (GMT -7)
This is important information for all IBS sufferers.  I have had severe IBS for the last 8 years.  I have tried everything imagineable in my desperation to be normal again, like I know everyone else has on this site.  I always knew there had to be a common thread and I think I have found it.  I read this very small article buried at the back of my local newpaper about fructose.  The article was not written in connection to IBS but rather stating that fructose cannot be fully digested and that part of it is left undigested in the intestine leading to bacteria buildup.  Fructose is in fruit juices, gatoraide, all soda etc. (read the labels).  It is used to give an added sweetness to the product.  Well, I put two and two together and came up with the fact that I have been drinking at least two to three sodas everyday for probably 15 years and before that I drank loads of canned lemonaide.  So I decided to give up the soda(which has been hard).  The first two weeks I was really sick with a lot of episodes but I did not give up.  The third week I had only two episodes and now I am into my fourth week with no episodes and I feel normal like I would never think I would feel again.  EVERYONE, GIVE UP THE FRUCTOSE.  EXAMINE WHAT YOU ARE DRINKING AND AFTER A MONTH START WRITING MESSAGES AS TO WHETHER THIS HAS HAD A POSITIVE EFFECT.    I hope and pray this is a breakthrough, at least for some people. 
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Yowie
Regular Member
Joined : May 2006
Posts : 91
Posted 12/8/2006 1:50 AM (GMT -7)
How you going now with your fructose free diet starjasmine? Reason i ask was i was diagnosed with fructose malabsorbtion (confirmed via a hydrogen breath test), and i'm about to begin a fructose free diet. What does your normal daily eating habits look like?
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GLbaby
Regular Member
Joined : Aug 2006
Posts : 188
Posted 12/8/2006 7:16 AM (GMT -7)
I am from the Lyme Board.  I have IBS for at least Seven years and with my Lyme treatment it has improved.  Im certain my IBS is linked to Lyme Disease.   I read your board sometime becuase I am definantly an IBS sufferer.  Take Care!
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