Friday November 20, 2009
Past research has shown that the quality of your relationship with your doctor can have a positive effect on your IBS symptoms. A recent study took a deeper look into what factors are involved in this positive effect. According to the study abstract, complex statistical analyses were conducted on data that was collected from 289 IBS patients. I did my best to try to sort throught the results to see if any of this information would be helpful to you. The one nugget that I gleaned was that subjects who did not receive a supportive relationship with their practitioner did have a better treatment outcome if they were given the opportunity to discuss their illness in the context of what the researchers called an "experiential interview".
Your takeaway? Speak up! Tell your story! Yes, I know the symptoms are embarrassing, but they are only descriptions of common body functions, not a reflection of you as a person. This study fits right in with the ongoing forum discussion regarding IBS awareness and advocacy. If you can't find anyone who will listen, feel free to post on my forum. As Dr. Frazier Crane says "I'm listening".
Related Reading:
Source:
Conboy, L.A., Macklin, E., Kelley, J., Kokkotou, E., Lembo, A., & Kaptchuk, T. "Which patients improve: Characteristics increasing sensitivity to a supportive patient-practitioner relationship." Social Science and Medicine November 2007 Articles in Press.
Tuesday November 17, 2009
As you all know all too well, the medication options for IBS are quite limited. Thus, it is always refreshing to hear that drug manufacturers are working to change this unfortunate state of affairs. Lexicon Pharmaceuticals has just announced some positive results of a Phase II clinical trial for a medication currently being called LX1031.
LX1031 is designed to treat "non-constipating" IBS. In this trial, patients were recruited who suffer from diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) or IBS alternating type (IBS-A). Results showed significant improvement in relief of IBS pain and discomfort, as well as stool consistency as compared to placebo. The medication was well-tolerated with no evidence of adverse side effects.
LX1031 is described as a "tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) inhibitor". Luckily, the press release offers an explanation! TPH is involved with production of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the intestinal tract. LX1031 is thought to decrease the amount of serotonin in the digestive system thus providing symptom relief. (If this topic interests you, see: The Brain Gut Connection in IBS). One of the study measurements was to assess the amount of 5-HIAA in urine, which is a measure of the breakdown of serotonin. As was hoped, study results indicated a decrease in the amount of 5-HIAA in the urine of participants who received LX1031.
The fact that this medication is looking effective without nasty side effects is good news! What I am liking about this medication is that it works to alleviate pain, which many of you would describe as your worst IBS symptom. Because the medication did well in this study, the manufacturer will continue to test it for safety and effectiveness. I will keep you posted!
Source:
Lexicon Announces Positive Phase 2 Results of LX1031 in Non-Constipating Irritable Bowel Syndrome Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Press Release. November 12, 2009.
Sunday November 15, 2009
If you are like me, you might find that all of the information about the H1N1 swine flu is too much to try to take in. It seems like you can't open a newspaper, magazine or web page without some new facts being thrown at you. On the other hand, the H1N1 flu is not going away and so you can't completely turn a deaf ear to it all.
For you, my loyal readers, I have tried to find out what information you specifically need to know about the H1N1 flu, especially in terms as to how it relates to your IBS. The following articles boil it all down for you, short and sweet, your eyes really shouldn't glaze over:
Friday November 13, 2009
An encouraging discussion has recently been started on the IBS Discussion Forum regarding IBS advocacy. Stepjrn writes "In my opinion, silence and anonymity are our enemies in this case. IBS is a legitimate medical condition and the way we get more health care professionals and the general public to see that legitimacy and the importance of our needs is to come out of the closet and speak out loudly and en masse. We cannot expect others to fund or support our needs if we are not collectively willing to get behind our own cause and the organizations and other entities that are supposed to represent us."
Ed12 makes a good point as well: "If every IBS sufferer in the 3 countries I have already stated joined together and donated only one DOLLAR a month, just one DOLLAR a month, more than 100 millions dollars would be raised for funding of the disease each month, and that is only in three major countries around the world, not to mention other countries. Imagine how far we would go towards better relief in a year. In a year we would be able to raise more than 1.2 billion dollars. I'm sure that much hasn't ever been raised for any disease, but we can do that by only donating a dollar each, and it will be to get better relief in the future. I swear if this happens, there will definitely be a cure for IBS within 5 years."
These two readers bring up such a good point. The number of people who suffer from IBS is as Will Ferrell would say "ginourmous". Why doesn't IBS get the press and the funding that other health conditions get? Why do IBS patients stay locked in shame and silence? You might say that the symptoms are embarrassing, but as Stepjren so nicely points out in one of her posts, patients with Crohn's and colitis are not so silent, and they also deal with "bathroom issues".
Please think about what you can do to bring IBS into the forefront so that it gets the research dollars that are so desperately needed. The following articles might give you some ideas:
For other ideas, or if you have any ideas of your own as to how to increase IBS advocacy, please join in on the discussion on the IBS forum.
