Irritable Bowel Syndrome
I see a lot of patients at my clinic with gastro-intestinal issues that have not been helped with traditional medications. The program I use has been very successful for my patients, young and old.
The elimination diet is the center of the program. Testing for food intolerances and allergies, celiac and gluten intolerance, and a comprehensive digestive stool analysis is also important.
From doing the above many patients discover that what they are ingesting as food is contributing to their problems. I always like to point out to my patients that the three most common dietary triggers of IBS are caffeine, sugar and refined carbohydrates.
Sometimes these tests, or an empiric trial of HCL (hydrochloric acid), may reveal that the patient needs digestive enzymes, l-glutamine, HCl or probiotics.
Yet for some patients I might discover they have small bowel bacterial overgrowth. This is diagnosed via specialized breath testing. And for others, it might simply be undiagnosed H-pylori a bacterial infection of the stomach.
An area not to be overlooked is stress and anxiety. If the patient is suffering from this, then discussing ways to lower the stress and anxiety are of great importance. Some research has pointed to the fact that anxiety centers in the brain light up when the patient is experiencing abdominal symptoms.
See Also:
Probiotics and Irritable Bowel Treatment
Gut and its bacteria is a growing focus of research
Specialty Lab Testing for Gastro Intestinal Markers