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Gut 2003:52: 1623-1629 Background and aims: There is now good evidence from several sources that hypnotherapy can relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome in the short term. However, there [...]

Background: Meal ingestion is often associated with exacerbation of gastrointestinal symptoms in subjects with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Furthermore, recent preliminary data suggest that 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) concentration in platelet poor [...]

Background and objectives: We have previously shown that hypnosis can be used to study the effect of different emotions on the motility of the gastrointestinal tract. These studies demonstrated that [...]

Background: We have previously shown that the menstrual cycle has no effect on rectal sensitivity of normal healthy women, despite them having looser stools at the time of menses. Patients [...]

Undigested food material, also called phytobezoars, often occur after stomach surgery and consist of undigested vegetable matter. Phytobezoars may occur in the stomach, causing discomfort, blockage, formation of ulcers, or rupture. When these undigested food masses appear in the small intestine, they cause obstruction. A case is described of a 24-year-old man with a phytobezoar who had no history of prior surgery. He was initially diagnosed with Crohn's disease, or inflammation of the small intestine. However, X-ray of the abdomen revealed the presence of a bezoar, which the patient eventually excreted after a small bowel enema and colonoscopy (examination of the colon with a tube-like instrument containing an optical system). The use of drugs called antispasmodics to relax the bowel and physical disturbance during colonoscopy may have enhanced the excretion of the phytobezoar. The bezoar consisted of vegetable fibers, and the patient, who works in the parks department, admitted to the habit of chewing and swallowing twigs. Surgery that results in the disruption of gastric motility (the normal movement of foods and fluids through the stomach and gut) may cause the formation of phytobezoars in the small intestine. The occurrence of these undigested food masses are rare in persons with normal stomachs. However, the consumption of indigestible substances, such as unripe persimmon, orange pith, or dandelion may also cause the formation of phytobezoars. This is the first reported case of a phytobezoar occurring after ingestion of hedge material. Antispasmodics may be useful in enhancing the elimination of phytobezoars in the normal small bowel. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disturbance of normal patterns of defecation, characterized in some cases by diarrhea (diarrhea-predominant) and in others by constipation (constipation-predominant). Patients suffering from IBS are reported to show altered sensitivity to various stimuli, such as distension and pain involving the colon and rectum, although the basis of this symptomatology is not known. One treatment that has been moderately successful is hypnotherapy. It is not known by what mechanism symptomatic improvement is achieved, and published reports have in some cases have inconclusive. In order to systematically investigate the effects of hypnotherapy on IBS symptoms, a study was carried out involving 15 patients ranging in age from 22 to 46 years (14 women, one man) with IBS who received hypnotherapy, and a similar group of 15 patients who did not. IBS patients with the diarrhea-predominant form of the disease showed significant changes (normalization) of rectal sensitivity both during and after a course of hypnotherapy. A trend (not statistically significant) towards similar changes was seen in patients with the constipation-predominant form of the disorder. The hypnotherapy had no effect on pain tolerance, rectal compliance (distensibility of the rectum), or distension-induced rectal contractions. The effect of hypnotherapy on IBS symptoms seems to be mediated by alterations of visceral sensitivity, but the physiological mechanism by which this occurs remains unknown. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester M20 2LR, UK There is evidence to suggest that sex hormonal status of female patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may affect the severity [...]

University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester M20 2LR, UK Background: Somatisation may play a role in producing symptoms in at least some IBS patients. Individuals at risk for somatisation may [...]

Dept of Medicine, University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester M20 2LR, UK It has been suggested that patients with urge (U) and no-urge (NU) constipation predominant IBS (CPIBS) have increased [...]

Dept of Medicine, University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester M20 2LR, UK It has been shown that the 5.[HT.sub.1] receptor agonist, sumatriptan (5) induces premature jejunal phase III activity and [...]

Dept of Medicine, University Hospital of South Manchester, M20 2LR, UK We have shown hypnotherapy (HT) to be highly effective in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with long [...]

Background and Aim: Diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) relies on the use of symptom based criteria, as there is no biological marker for the disease. Despite widespread use of [...]

Chaudhary and Truelove were amongst the first to recognise that a proportion of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) report an apparent association between the onset of symptoms and a [...]

Introduction: We have recently developed and validated the technique of Abdominal Inductance Plethysmography to objectively measure abdominal girth (1) and have shown that subjective worsening of abdominal bloating (AB) through [...]

Most laboratory based research into the effect of nausea on gastric functioning has been conducted using nausea evoking stimuli, such as circular vection. (1) The aim of this study was [...]

Patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who experience the symptom of bloating can be sub-divided according to whether there is associated visible abdominal distension or not. (1) Although bloating might [...]

Many patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are convinced they have some form of food allergy or intolerance and have usually tried a dietary approach to their problem. IgE mediated [...]