A New IBS Solution: Bacteria-The Missing Link in Treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Most knowledgeable info. on IBS Iv'e ever read. I have had IBS for 33 years, and read everything on IBS I could find. It has destroyed my life. My PCP is interested in reading this book. I am 66 years old.

This book was amazing! It was the first book I have read on IBS that actually gets to the bottom of what really causes this awful condition. Dr. Mark Pimentel gave me such relief in knowing that IBS is not all in your head and there is a course of treatment to help cure it. I have gone through the testing at his facility at Cedars Sinai, and I'm about to start the treatment myself. For anyone out there suffering with IBS get this book! You will not be sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dr. Mark Pimentel is the Director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. The purpose for writing this book was to declare a unifying hypothesis for the cause of IBS. Numerous research studies peformed by Dr. Pimentel, and duplicated by many centers world-wide, point to an overgrowth of bacteria as being the missing link which explains the symptoms felt by 10-20% of the population. He does an admirable job at explaining the background for this new theory, along with treatment options. After reading this book you are more than likely going to want to discuss its findings with your own physician.

This book may help answer many of your IBS problems. Easy read for millions of individuals suffering from gas, bloating, and additional disruptive IBS symptoms. The book provides excellent information for patients and doctors alike. Dr. Pimentel, Director of the GI Motility Program at well respected Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in LA, discusses a new approach to treating IBS patients, with 10 day course of the non-systemic antibiotic XIFAXAN. He uses this new antibiotic in combination with low dose zelnorm maintenance therapy, dietary modifications, etc. XIFAXAN has helped give myself and some of my family members who also suffer from IBS, hope that there is an answer to our suffering. This might be the best Christmas present of all! :^) After reading Dr. Pimentel's book I actually researched to see what else was out on this subject and found this July article from the St. Louis Post Dispatch: Controversial Theory Links Bacterial Overgrowth to Irritable Bowel Syndrome By Kay Quinn Healthbeat Reporter It causes everything from pneumonia and infections, to certain stomach ulcers. Now, bacteria could be to blame for triggering a common intestinal ailment. This new theory has led to a new treatment for irritable bowel syndrome or IBS. For years, doctors chalked up the alternating symptoms of constipation and diarrhea to stress. But a developing theory links bacteria that causes food poisoning, including salmonella, to IBS. 37 year old Jennifer Freese has been battling the pain and discomfort of IBS since she was 19. "Things you want to do you don't always do because you don't know when it will flare up." On the advice of her doctor, Jennifer's breath is being tested every 15 minutes for the next two hours. The test can help determine whether she has an overgrowth of bacteria in her small intestine. Some doctors believe certain bacteria that cause food poisoning, like shigella and salmonella, also damage the nerves of the small intestine, setting the stage for that overgrowth and the discomfort of IBS. "Many patients don't remember the inciting incident. Some patients say o.k. I came back with an infection it lasted for a couple of weeks and I developed IBS and never had it before," says Dr. Leonard Weinstock, a gastroenterologist with Specialists in Gastroenterology in Creve Coeur. After a careful medical history and physical exam, patients are given a sugar drink that's not absorbed by the body. The breath of those with an overgrowth of bacteria will give off measurable levels of methane and hydrogen. Patients who test positive can then be treated with two drugs: one that increases contractions in the small intestine, and a ten day course of a new antibiotic called XIFAXAN. "We've had some dramatic responses and we've also had some people who've said thank goodness you can tell me something other than its not in my head," says Dr. Weinstock. Kelly Kendrick was found to have an overgrowth of bacteria in her intestine. She's been trea