Diarrhoea and constipation: chaos, control and a possible explanation.
One of the most intriguing questions about IBS is why some people have diarrhoea most of the time, others have constipation and others seem to alternate between those two opposing … Continue reading
Life and the Colon ‘in the fast lane’.
Yesterday I got an email from Beppe. He had been to America and wanted me to know that his bowel problems were now cured. He wanted his experience to be … Continue reading
Diarrhoea; the stress and meaning of it.
We have all experienced it; an important interview, the fear of being out of control, an unfair accusation, shocking news; they can all trigger an urge to evacuate our bowels. … Continue reading
IBS: How can diarrhoea and constipation coexist in the same illness
This is one of the biggest mysteries of IBS. Alternating diarrhoea and constipation is a well known subset of IBS, but it is not always balanced. Many people with diarrhoea … Continue reading
Milk intolerance; it’s not just lactose.
Lactose Intolerance is a common ‘cause’ of bloating, flatulence, pain and diarrhoea. This is usually assumed to be due to deficiency of lactase or beta galalactosidase, the enzyme secreted by … Continue reading
Stool Gazing: A Definitive Guide.
In the nineteen sixties before the age of scans and blood tests for everything, medical students were drilled on in the arts of history taking and clinical examination. Xrays and … Continue reading
Stuck; when your bowels take over your life.
Stephen is stuck. He is just 20 years old, but his life is controlled by his bowels. He has seen the experts, been scoped, scanned, his body fluids have been … Continue reading
Bile acid malabsorption; an unrecognised cause of IBS-diarrhoea
Bile acids are nature’s laxatives. So said Dr Alan Hoffman, for many years a world expert on bile acids. So might malabsorption of bile acids be a major factor in … Continue reading
The Sensitive Gut 