A Symbiotic Relationship :: Health and Disease :: Gastrointestinal

> Health and Disease > Gastrointestinal > irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

A Symbiotic Relationship
by author Joseph Brasco, MD

The body’s gastrointestinal tract or gut is central to maintaining health as it is this set of organs that digests food to properly nourish the body. Good digestion requires normal flora (good bacteria) and a healthy pH balance in the gut. A healthy balance of normal gut flora is called symbiosis.

Dysbiosis Defined

When there is an imbalance of normal flora, dysbiosis results, leading to uncomfortable and unhealthy intestinal symptoms. Intestinal dysbiosis can cause or participate in many chronic, debilitating diseases, including Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), candidiasis (an overgrowth of Candida albicans has been linked to gastrointestinal disorders), ulcerative colitis, and food allergies.

Dysbiosis stems from overuse of antacids, histamine type 2 receptor antagonists (H2 blockers), antibiotic abuse, use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), food allergy or sensitivity, and contaminated foods. Additionally, emotional stress, poor dietary choices, and impaired digestion can play significant roles in dysbiosis.

Finding Balance

Whole, unprocessed foods in their natural, balanced state offer complete nutrition and plenty of good micro-organisms for normal gut flora. However, a whole foods diet is difficult to come by. Soil organisms have been depleted through modern farming techniques that use pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and mechanization to keep up with the cost of inflation and field production. Add to that the standard North American diet and our modern lifestyle and you have three factors that can inhibit good micro-organisms and foster unhealthy acidity in the gut. When good micro-organisms are low in number, then bad micro-organisms can take over, causing a vast array of health maladies that include dysbiosis, excess acid, and digestive disorders.

Consuming whole, unprocessed foods and whole food digestive health supplements can foster balanced gut flora and offer a way to get good micro-organisms and alkalinizing factors into the gut, thereby supporting digestive health.

Did You Know?

According to the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (iffgd.org), about 21 percent of Canadians may suffer from GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease).
More than 20 percent of Canadians experience heartburn at least once a month and about 40 percent are daily sufferers of heartburn that can lead to GERD.
Digestive disorders drive one out of every three Canadians into doctors’ offices each year.
After prescription drugs for heart disease and blood pressure, stomach remedies or laxatives are the next most commonly prescribed drugs, used by 14 percent of women and 9 percent of men, says Statistics Canada.
Next to the common cold, gastrointestinal motility disorders cause the highest percentage of absenteeism from the workplace.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) alone affects between 15 and 20 percent of people in the Western countries, the journal Digestion reported in 2003.

Joseph Brasco, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist who attended the Medical College of Wisconsin and did his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Illinois.

Source: alive #272, June 2005

Beyond Survival
No pizza, beer, no cakes, cookies or pie! This is what I was told when I was first diagnosed with celiac disease. While this advice makes nutritional sense for everyone, these indulgences were particularly threatening to my healt.

The Magic of Muesli
More than 90 per cent of all foods North Americans eat have been tampered with in one way or another through chemical farming, processing, refining and now genetic engineering.

Calm Your Irritable Bowel
You're only minutes away from your business presentation and your nervous butterflies have changed into those horribly familiar cramping pains in your abdomen.

Liver Restoration
Perhaps because there is no Western orthodox medical treatment for the liver, the liver is, unfortunately, overlooked as the cause of many health problem.

Liberate Your Colon
"Don't let your health be stolen by a congested colon! If a person is not being rewarded with good health, vigour and energy after proper sleep, good nutrition and dietary supplements, then there must be a thief, stealin.

Chewing Well Prevents Stomach Woes
How you eat is as important as what you eat and the simplest method for improving your digestion and overall health is to chew your food well.

Herbs and Exercise Ease Cystitis
Dr Leyton:Six years ago I had a bad bout of diarrhea after having a barium enema and sigmoid colonoscopy. I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome.One doctor advised me to take Metamucil.

Soothe Festive Belly Aches

Healthy Bugs
Probiotics is the name for these beneficial bacteria, which the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the US (FAO) define as "live microorganisms, which when administered .

De-Stress Your Digestion
The most common health complaint in North America is poor digestion. Consumers spend billions of dollars each year on over-the-counter medicines and prescription drugs designed to temporarily relieve symptoms of gastrointestinal distress.

The Best Colon-Cleansing Diet
If you experience constipation, bladder and kidney infections, vaginal yeast infections, bad breath, body odour, abdominal cramps, or toe- and fingernail fungus, your colon may be calling for a cleanse. Some say disease begins in the colon.

Wisdom Of The Human Body
"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest the patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and preve.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of the large intestine that's characterized by abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea, flatulence, nausea and varying degrees of anxiety or depression. IBS has been referred to in the past as nervous indigestion, spastic colitis, mucous colitis and intestinal neurosis..

Renewing Your Digestion
(Renew Life Press, 2002). Speaking from her office in Clearwater, Fla.

Gas? Bloating? Constipation?
Imagine a factory where the assembly line works in reverse, taking cars and dismantling them piece by piece until they are all but unrecognizable. That's essentially how your digestive system work.

Conquering Digestive Disorders
It's no fun when you get that bloated, gassy feeling after eating-so often considered a "normal" post-meal symptom in our societ.

Nourishing the Gastrointestinal Tract
Modern day agricultural practices include the use of germicides, radiation and fungicides meant to kill harmful bacteria and other micro-organisms. They also kill beneficial bacteria, leaving our foodstuffs virtually sterile.

Irritable Bowel-Irritable Person
What is it? Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a "functional bowel disorder. Unlike inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis), which may have similar symptoms, when IBS patients are, probed, scoped, and X-rayed, nothing appears abnormal about the structure of the digestive tract.

'Tis the Season for Over-Eatin'
Ah, December. The holiday season-that time of year when we gather with family and friends, give gifts, exchange good cheer, and of course, eat and eat and eat. We probably eat more in December than during any other month of the year.

Oh, What a Relief It Is
Every year more than 50 million people visit their doctors for digestive problems. As a result, acid blockers and antacids are two of the top-selling pharmaceutical products.

Gut Instinct
Almost all disease can be traced back to poor digestion. Good digestive health is more than just breaking down your food properly-it's essential for nutrient absorption, immune function, detoxification, and chemical and hormone production..

Gut Reaction
Pamela is bitter about her past experience with a gastroenterologist. "I have this mysterious gastrointestinal problem that was never diagnosed. I can't eat anything with flavour, and I get acid from even completely bland food..

Digestion
What do weight problems, skin conditions, allergies, fatigue, insomnia, arthritis, headaches, depression, yeast infections, constipation, and cancer have in common? These and dozens of other conditions may all be caused or worsened by poor digestion..

Colon Cleansing Made Easy

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Support
In Canada, six million people suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and currently its symptoms are second only to the common cold as the most frequent cause of absenteeism from work and school. IBS is commonly characterized by abdominal pain and altered bowel function such as constipation and diarrhea. Some people have mild symptoms, while others have chronic, disabling symptoms.

Eat, Drink, and be Healthy
Everyone is familiar with the old saying, "You are what you eat." A more accurate rendition might be, "You are what you absorb," because that's what digestion is all about: It's the process that converts food into substances that can be absorbed by the body.

Digestive Woes
The digestive tract can be a friend and an enemy. Many variables such as stressors, genetic predisposition, and unhealthy lifestyle choices can interrupt the complex process of digestion and play havoc with our stomachs. Three simple strategies practised daily can help to manage stress for a stomach-friendly lifestyle.

Dealing with Digestion
Pain, bloating, belching, constipation, and a wide range of other distressing symptoms accompany digestive disturbances. Taking an honest look at dietary and lifestyle habits will usually offer the best clues to solving your tummy troubles.

As the Stomach Turns
The commercials make me crazy. They advertise over-the-counter or prescription medications that claim to treat heartburn, acid reflux, or general indigestion. And they always feature a bunch of fun-loving, portly guys out on the town for a night of sausage pizza, spicy chicken wings, and draught beer.

Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis
Diverticulosis is a condition in which there are small extruding pockets in the wall of the large bowel. Most commonly they occur in the descending colon or sigmoid colon, which is the last part of the bowel prior to its exit from the body. Diverticulitis is an inflammation of those pockets, which can lead to symptoms of diarrhea, pain and bleeding.

Ease Knee Pain Through Movement

Exercise Improves Quality of Life for IBS Sufferers

Working Out at Work

Writing for wound healing
Pen and paper are powerful healers, according to a fascinating British study. Researchers found writing about emotions and feelings helps wounds heal more quickly.

Heartburn?

Teetotally awesome

Renewing Life
In with the good, out with the bad. It's simple physiology, but when the digestive system doesn't function properly, optimum health can be elusive.

Go Foraging for Fibre
Are you getting enough fibre? Do you know how much you need each day?

Unlocking the Mysteries of Bowel Disorders
Many of us have experienced abdominal discomfort, usually from overindulging. People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), however, have recurring and severe bouts of intestinal pain, bleeding, and diarrhea. This month, in the first of a two-part series on bowel disorders, alive looks at research that may provide relief for people with IBD.

Gut Reaction
Probiotics can have a beneficial effect on a wide range of inflammatory bowel disorders such as celiac disease, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. They help to restore a healthy bacterial balance that not only supports the digestion process but also reduces inflammation in the intestine.

Understanding Bowel Disorders
Apparently mother was right about that apple a day. For good and ill, what we eat and how we live are central to the onset and control of irritable bowel syndrome and diverticulosis.

Celiac Disease
Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition in which gluten acts as a toxin and causes the absorptive surfaces of the small intestine to flatten. This prevents the body from receiving important nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

Andrographis
With the arrival of spring, many people follow their gut instinct and begin to focus on healthier eating and lifestyle habits in order to strengthen their resistance to illness and improve general well-being.