LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Diarrhea / Constipation / Irritable Bowel

Glaxo Unsure of Which Patients Suitable for Lotronex – (11-29-00)

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Glaxo Unsure of Which Patients Suitable for Lotronex

Sorry I didn’t get this news out to you sooner….Lotronex was just pulled off the market by the FDA. Remember, functional medicine practitioners have been treating IBS very successfully for many years now using various natural methods.

(article) Many patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) alternate between the two main forms of the disease, Glaxo Wellcome said on Thursday as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continued to investigate 70 reports of adverse events and five deaths in women taking the company’s IBS drug Lotronex. As of October 20, the FDA had received 49 reports of ischemic colitis, a condition in which blood flow to the colon is reduced, and 21 reports of severe constipation in women taking Lotronex (alosetron) for IBS. Five of these 70 women died, FDA spokesman Jason Brodsky said. A Glaxo spokesman denied a causal link had been established between the adverse events and the drug, which has been taken by some 300,000 women in the US since its launch in March, but which has not yet been approved in Europe. The spokesman told Reuters Health that some women had been misdiagnosed and prescribed Lotronex when they had the constipation-predominant form of IBS rather than diarrhea-predominant form for which the drug is indicated. According to the spokesman, a correct diagnosis is not straightforward because many patients — possibly as many as a third of all IBS patients — alternate between the two types.

Fructo oligosaccharides in the prevention of travellers’ diarrhoea – (07-23-01)

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Fructo oligosaccharides in the prevention of travellers’ diarrhoea

FOS is a nondigestable carbohydrate that friendly bacteria can use as a fuel source to proliferate and help the GI tract stay healthy. This study shows some benefit to the use of FOS to reduce effects of travellers’ diarrhea. Probiotics and FOS are a nice GI preventative for anyone traveling out of the country. As a side note, there is some concern that certain harmful bacteria (namely Klebsiella) can also use FOS. A stool analysis is always a nice place to start if this is a concern to find out what the flora of the patient’s GI tract consists of.

Synergy : Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics 15 (8), 1139-1145

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Campylo enteritis, post-dysenteric IBS and increased gut permeability – (12-07-00)

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Campylo enteritis, post-dysenteric IBS and increased gut permeability

There is an important message to take home from this article. The damage inflicted on the GI tract following infection can persist beyond one year. I have talked with a GI specialist and an infectious disease specialist that refused to believe that an infection in the GI tract could have long term effects. This idea that the body comes back to homeostasis is WRONG. If we can accept that these changes become ingrained, then we can begin to treat the altered permeability and upregulated immune cells.

Gut — Abstracts: Spiller et al. 47 (6): 804

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Lactobacillus for Acute Infectious Diarrhea in Children: A Meta-analysis – (04-08-02)

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Lactobacillus for Acute Infectious Diarrhea in Children: A Meta-analysis

Gosh, I just love meta-analysis that supports stuff we’ve been saying for years. This study shows a reduction in length of diarrhea by .7 days. Not much, but for a therapy that may lower future risk of infectious diarrhea and is very inexpensive, I’ll take it!!

Pediatrics — Abstracts: Van Niel et al. 109 (4): 678

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Activation of the mucosal immune system in irritable bowel syndrome – (06-24-02)

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Activation of the mucosal immune system in irritable bowel syndrome

It has been difficult to find structural abnormalities in IBS and it is nice to see some research along these lines. IBS is primarily a functional disorder and I’m sure that the localized inflammation found in this study is a result of the altered function. Imbalance in pathogenic flora, improper digestion leading to putrefactive by products and yeast overgrowth have all shown to play a factor in IBS. Each of these by themselves could lead to a localized inflammatory response.

Gastroenterology Online

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Fish Oil Increases Acetylcholine, Eicosanoid-Induced Contractility of Ileum – (09-19-02)

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Fish Oil Increases Acetylcholine, Eicosanoid-Induced Contractility of Ileum

This article is very timely with the FDA’s conditional approval (see next article) of alosetron. Re-release of this drug after its withdrawal after fatal side effects is a subject of hot controversy. The drug is designed to help with diarrhea-dominant IBS. Here we see a natural approach to the opposite end of the spectrum; and I’d bet I would be hard pressed to find any fatal reactions to fish oil…

Nutrition.org — Abstracts: Patten et al. 132 (9): 2506

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Study Suggests Environmental Factors Play a Causative Role in IBD – (04-16-01)

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Study Suggests Environmental Factors Play a Causative Role in IBD

Now that at least a portion of mainstream medicine is beginning to recognize the role that environment plays in many diseases, we need to take a more aggressive role in managing these conditions without the use of drugs or surgery. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in this study were found to occur at higher rates in spouses of patients with the disease that would otherwise have been expected. Patient with IBD can actually respond very well to functional medicine concepts such as restoration of GI environment, avoidance of food allergens and maintenance of optimal digestive functioning.

Gastroenterology — Abstracts: LAHARIE et al. 120 (4): 816

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Full-thickness biopsy of the jejunum reveals inflammation and enteric neuropathy in irritable bowel syndrome – (12-05-02)

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Full-thickness biopsy of the jejunum reveals inflammation and enteric neuropathy in irritable bowel syndrome

For those of you out there battling IBS, this study should really give you a sense of justification. Many patients with IBS have frequently been led to believe that there symptoms are psychosomatic in origin because there are few objective findings, and have been treating with such medications as antidepressants. That’s not to say that emotional factors do not influence the symptoms of IBS, but this study backs up the fact that there is a bonafide physiological alteration to be found. Also, stool analysis tests also frequently provide objective findings that can be effectively treated with natural therapeutics.

Gastroenterology Online

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