BOWEL : Treatment For Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

BOWEL

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBD)
In gastroenterology, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or spastic colon is a functional bowel disorder characterized by abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits which are not associated with any abnormalities seen on routine clinical testing. It is fairly common and makes up 20–50% of visits to gastroenterologists. Lower abdominal pain, and bloating associated with alteration of bowel habits and abdominal discomfort relieved with defecation are the most frequent symptoms. The abdominal pain type is usually described in a patient as either diarrhea-predominant (IBS-D), constipation-predominant (IBS-C) or IBS with alternating stool pattern (IBS-A). In some individuals, IBS may have an acute onset and develop after an infectious illness characterised by two or more of the following: fever, vomiting, acute diarrhea, or positive stool culture. This post-infective syndrome has consequently been termed "post-infectious IBS" (IBS-PI) and is acute onset Rome II criteria positive. This condition is more homogeneous, being mostly IBS-D and is drawing much clinical investigation. Chronic functional abdominal pain (CFAP) is quite similar to, but less common than IBS. CFAP can be diagnosed if there is no change in bowel habits.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
A recent hypothesis posits that some IBD cases are caused by an overactive immune system attacking various tissues of the digestive tract because of the lack of traditional targets such as parasites and worms. The number of people being diagnosed with IBD has increased as the number of infections by parasites, such as roundworm, hookworm and human whipworms, has fallen, and the condition is still rare in countries where parasitic infections are common. This is similar to the hygiene hypothesis applied to allergies.[citation needed]Initial reports (Summers et al 2003) suggest that "helminthic therapy" may not only prevent but even cure (or control) IBD: a drink with roughly 2,500 ova of the Trichuris suis helminth taken twice monthly decreased symptoms markedly in many patients. It is even speculated that an effective "immunization" procedure could be developed by ingesting the cocktail at an early age.(1)