At last; a positive test for IBS?
You’ve heard it all before. IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion. If you have ongoing symptoms of bowel irritability; abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhoea or frustrated defaecation, then your doctor should … Continue reading
IBS: The Patients’ Perspective
‘Illness is a language, the body is representation and medicine is a political practice.’ Bryan S. Turner, The Body and Society. The Irritable Bowel Syndrome is still regarded by … Continue reading
Open up your bowels and let the sun shine in; the myths about Vitamin D and IBS
It’s a no brainer. Most people with IBS have low levels of Vitamin D, so the answer seems simple: if you can’t get enough sunshine in your life, take Vitamin … 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
‘Twas the clinic before Christmas
It had been a long clinic. It was already six o’clock and I wanted to go home when the nurse came in and said she was sorry but I had … Continue reading
Perchance to dream; sleep and the nightmare of IBS.
Many years ago, in one of the last projects my research group conducted, we found that people with the erratic bowels of IBS also had erratic eating patterns, erratic moods … Continue reading
The natural history of pain; insights from toothache?
Joan had been working hard all week. No sooner had she returned from Oxford than she had to turn around and go to London for a meeting and then after … Continue reading
Dietary fibre; is it time to reconsider?
There was a time, and not so long ago, when lack of dietary fibre was considered to be cause of most ailments of modern civilisation. Dennis Burkitt (remember him?) had, … Continue reading
Bloating, abnormal abdominal physiology or just a lot of gas.
At one time, doctors believed bloating was due to swallowing too much air. At another, it was caused by lordosis, an abnormal posture produced by arching the spine and pushing … Continue reading
What a way to spend Christmas.
It was Christmas Eve. I just assumed I’d eaten too much. It was a mistake to cook that Mexican feast. My brother and his partner enjoyed it and so with … Continue reading
