IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome is an incredibly common diagnosis (or over-diagnosis, explained below) affecting 9-23% of the population around the world. Irritable Bowel Syndrome can be classified in the following subtypes: IBS-C (constipation), IBS-D (diarrhea), IBS-M or IBS-DC (mixed).
The real question is, is your IBS a true IBS? Most of the time, the answer is no. You need to find yourself a licensed regulated Naturopathic Doctor that will sit with you and go over all the symptoms in order to get to the root cause of your Irritable Bowel Syndrome like symptoms. Did you know that up to 80% of ‘IBS’ cases are actually SIBO? SIBO is a condition of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms can also be presented as candida, food sensitivities, indigestion, leaky gut, etc.
IBS is considered a blanket ‘diagnosis’ for the symptoms of: Gas, bloating, constipation / diarrhea or both, abdominal cramping / pain, differences in frequency / consistency , anxiety / depression, painful bowel movements, mucus in stool
A questionnaire commonly used to rule in Irritable Bowel Syndrome is the Rome III Criteria:
Recurrent pain or discomfort at least 3 days per month in the last 3 months associated with at least 2 of the following:
Note: So many conditions could be the cause of these symptoms, its essential to rule out more serious diagnosis like IBD, celiac, infections, colon cancer etc.
Even though there are a few theories, the real cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome is unknown. However, its always important to ask the questions of “Is This True IBS?”
Irritable Bowel Syndrome like symptoms can be due to:
SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), Candida Overgrowth, Food Sensitivities, Central Dysregulation and Gut-Brain interaction Dysregulation, Hormonal Imbalance, Parasites, Bacterial Infections, Lack of Digestive Enzymes, Dysbiosis (imbalance of healthy gut bacteria), Post-Infectious IBS, Leaky Gut, Serotonin Dysregulation, Genetic etc.
Dr. Tali Troyansky thrives to get to the bottom of your IBS and gut health issues with an in-depth health history taking and testing only if necessary. Lab testing that can be used to rule out and diagnose the different causes of IBS mentioned above. Some of these tests are: IgG Food Sensitivity Testing, SIBO Testing, Candida Testing – Stool Analysis, Comprehensive Stool Analysis and Parasitology and Lactose intolerance.
Its important to treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome because depending on your symptoms, it can cause another chain of complications. Irritable Bowel Syndrome can increase inflammation in your body (not only in your gut), cause malabsorption, haemorrhoids, and can significantly affect your quality of life.
Naturopathic Medicine contains many effective and well researched treatment options for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. As explained above, Naturopathic Medicine is also great at digging into the root cause of your Irritable Bowel Syndrome and through an in-depth history taking with lab testing, your treatment will be tailored and individualized specifically for you – your symptoms and underlined causes.
There are plenty of goals we can be looking at when it comes to healing the gut. Dr. Tali believes in educating her patients to understand what is biologically happening and gives you the tools to manage it. Your goals can be coming off your IBS medications, managing symptoms, improving and OPTIMIZING digestion while increasing nutrient absorption, healing the gut lining and treating the root cause (see conditions above). The natural approach to treatment of IBS is evidence based medicine such as herbs, nutraceuticals (supplementation), acupuncture, dietary adjustment, lifestyle and stress management.
Lets work together on your gut health: restore gut lining, balance healthy gut bacteria, reduce bloating and gas and any discomfort! Our treatment goal is addressing and treating the cause and then healing the gut!
Reference:
PMID: 24944467