Bacteriotherapy & Irritable Bowel Syndrome

When the cause of an illness is not known, as in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, you can only treat the symptoms. But with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, highly effective treatment options are limited, since one of the treatments was removed from the market after only 9 months of availability (due to FDA concerns), and another treatment actually has the same side effects as the illness itself. That's why discussion about a new treatment option for this condition (Bacteriotherapy), and its seeming success in recent studies, is growing in medical circles.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Defined

• The condition of IBS is basically considered to be a chronic problem experienced in the colon. The colon's inability to function normally produces constipation, diarrhea, or an alternating state between the two, as well as other symptoms such as abdominal pain and bloating, gas and mucus in the stool.

  This condition can continue for several hours, several days or even weeks, impacting the daily responsibilities of the individual impacted by it. Generally, it comes and goes and is sometimes exacerbated by stressful events.

Bacteriotherapy Defined

• Bacteriotherapy is the process of introducing some type of bacterium flora into the body to counteract the overabundance of other bacteria in the gut--Lactobacillus (Lb) plantarum was the bacterium used in the case mentioned in the Resources section below, and seems to have produced positive results.

  This type of therapy has had some success in trials and studies performed thus far on control groups throughout the world, especially in regards to IBS-related abdominal bloating and pain, according to one study conducted by the Lund University Hospital in Sweden.

Bacteria as a New Treatment Option

• It might seem odd to fight an illness with what appears to be a bacteria, but that is just what some in the medical community believe will work in the fight against Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or they at least feel additional study is warranted due to prior study successes of Bacteriotherapy.

  Since the stomach (gut) has gut flora bacteria in it--the kind that aids in the digestion of food and the processes for removing it from the body--some in the medical community have questioned if an imbalance (overabundance) in the colonic flora might not be the culprit causing IBS and other similar conditions. Thus, the way to fight this overabundance is to introduce bacteria to kill other bacteria.

Correlation Between IBS and Bacteria Overgrowth

• The Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California states that there is evidence that considerable bacteria overgrowth exists in those individuals who suffer from IBS. In fact, the percentages are quite high: 78 to 84 percent of people studied who have IBS also have an overgrowth of gut bacteria. This statistical significance serves to support the need to further study Bacteriotherapy for treatment of those with IBS.

Significance

• According to the Mayo Clinic, approximately one out of every five individuals has--or will experience--Irritable Bowel Syndrome during his lifetime. It is considered one of the most common, but least publicly discussed disorders.

Current IBS Treatment Options

• Only two specific medications are available for treatment of IBS at this time; however, one--Aloestron (Lotronex--was removed from the market after two people died from its side effects and another 113 had severe reactions to it. But it has since been approved by the FDA to be sold again, but only under tight restrictions: doctors participating in a special program are the only ones allowed to prescribe it, and they can prescribe it only to patients who suffer from the most severe diarrhea symptoms of IBS.

  Lubitprostone (Amitiza), the only other specific IBS medication, actually has side effects that are quite common and mirror IBS too: diarrhea and abdominal pain. Therefore, it isn't necessarily a treatment option that many seek.