Common Disorder May Underlie Asthma and IBS
Hey!! We’re getting closer to the mark!! One of these days it may occur to the medical powers that be that the GI tract has a major impact on our overall health. Antibiotics, poor lifestyle habits, acid blockers, stress, NSAIDs can all alter the flora of the GI tract and lead to IBS symptoms. Antibiotics have shown to increase risk of asthma and this risk is most likely mediated through alterations in the flora. So of course a common disorder may underlie–destruction of normal, healthy flora!
Am J Gastroenterol 2001;96:1511-1516 Asthma appears to be more prevalent among patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) than among individuals without IBS, which suggests that there are pathophysiological processes common to both conditions, according to Turkish researchers. Dr. Aziz Yazar and colleagues, from the Mersin University Faculty of Medicine, in Mersin, performed pulmonary function tests and noted respiratory symptoms in 133 men and women with IBS and 137 controls. In the IBS group 33.8% of patients had respiratory symptoms, significantly more than in the control group, 5.8%. In addition, 15.8% of the IBS patients but only 1.45% of controls were diagnosed with asthma, Dr. Yazar’s group found. Compared with controls, IBS patients had impaired pulmonary function, including significantly lower forced expiratory volume in 1 second, flow after 50% of vital capacity had been exhaled, peak expiratory flow rate, and maximal midexpiratory flow rate. In a previous study, the research team notes, patient responses to a questionnaire showed that & quot;IBS, gastroesophageal reflux symptoms, and symptomatic bronchial hyper-responsiveness occur together more often than expected and that the conditions are independently associated with each other.” Some of the lines of evidence for an association between IBS and asthma, according to the researchers, are that in both disorders there is an altered contractility and smooth muscle tone, the autonomic nervous system is involved, and inflammation probably has an etiologic role.