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Taking Action Against IBS
The natural product she took was a small
capsule filled with somewhere around a
billion cells of friendly bacteria, or probiotics.
By World Health Organization definition,
probiotics are defined as live microorganisms
which when administered
in adequate amounts confer a health
benefit on the host.
This year, three notable companies
(Proctor & Gamble, Bayer, and Ganeden
Biotech) are expected to widely advertise
their probiotics as a way of helping
with IBS and a host of other digestive
symptoms, and they hope that many of
the estimated 30 million Americans with
IBS take action by giving them a try.
In a society that often seems to have
an obsession with killing bacteria—by
taking antibiotics at the first sign of a
cough and using antibacterial soaps,
wipes, and gels—should people welcome
these legions of friendly bacteria
into their bodies?
The Natural Remedy
Natural products promising to fix
everything from arthritis to zits have
been peddled for years in the lightlyregulated,
multi-billion dollar dietary
supplement industry.
Some arrive with outrageous health
claims and achieve massive sales levels
driven by fanfare that seems to fuel
itself more than the evidence of product
efficacy or consumer satisfaction. Usually,
sales fall precipitously once regulatory
watchdogs catch up to the often
misleading claims, or perhaps when it’s
discovered that the purported evidence
supporting the products turns out to be
concocted, or when consumers simply
find that the products don’t work.
One might think that the public would
grow weary of these natural products,
but the fact remains that many people
would rather give one of these products
a chance than take prescription drugs
that often come with scary information
sheets listing potential side effects such
as liver damage or death.
Because there have been some quality
and safety considerations attributed to
the use of certain natural products, it’s
best to do your research and discuss your
options with your clinician to weigh the
risks and benefits of any supplements or
medications you wish to take.
A Case for Probiotics
A recent systematic review by the
American College of Gastroenterology on
the management of IBS concluded that
published studies on probiotics support
only a weak recommendation for their
use—primarily because such studies have
been small, short-term, and have used a
variety of different probiotics and doses.
But that doesn’t mean that probiotics
are untested or don’t work. In fact,
Nicholas Talley, M.D., Ph.D., of the Mayo
Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., an expert on IBS
and one of the authors of the review, says
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