Is your life with IBS intolerable? So tell us your story.
Tracey wrote to me the other day. You asked me to tell you what my life with IBS was like. Well, I am thirty nine years old and have had … 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
IBS: let’s change the model.
The practice of medicine still operates on a model that was developed early in the last century. First establish the diagnosis, then identify the cause and finally apply the treatment. … Continue reading
Growing up with IBS; don’t always blame the parents.
For most people, IBS starts in young adulthood, teens or early twenties. It may last for years, even most of their lives, but more often it tends to come and … Continue reading
A Case for Columbo
I receive many letters on The IBS Network website (Ask Prof Nick) from people tormented daily and often for years by their abdominal pain, bloating and bowel upset. Although Susie’s … Continue reading
The aliens within.
When the submersible Alvin explored the deep ocean trenches around the Galápagos Islands in 1973, it discovered a whole new ecosystem centred around the geothermal vents; fumaroles or chimneys which … Continue reading
Health anxiety and morbid thoughts; the trap of IBS.
‘What life is it if you are constantly afraid of dying?’ I asked Tom. He had been coming to see me for years, always with a new set of symptoms: … 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
The Sensitive Gut 