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Magazine


Our quarterly magazine, Gut Reaction contains many interesting and informative articles relating to Irritable Bowel Syndrome; and you will find a small selection of them on this page. Members can download the latest version from the secure members area, meanwhile we offer you a full copy of a previous edition for you to download..

Click here to download Gut Reaction 81.

Features


What it means to have a 'nervous stomach'
When a IBS Network member from Plymouth wrote to request advice on how the vagus nerve relates to IBS symptoms, quite frankly we were stumped. So, we asked a couple of experts in the field to help us out

Will they work? Are they safe? Which can I trust? And can they beat my IBS?

Claire is a Senior Registered Dietitian based at St Georges Hospital, Tooting, London. She has a special interest in digestive diseases and has valuable experience of piloting a busy dietetic-led IBS outpatient's clinic.

Fighting for your rights
Shazia Shah, a solicitor at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, provides an overview of a real case study and offers advice to employers and employees on avoiding legal disputes.

Research Update

Is sequencing the human genome the answer for IBS?

genomeThis year was the 10th anniversary of the sequencing of the human genome. In the beginning was the word and the word was ACGT - life encoded in combinations of three out of a possible four nucleotides; Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymidine. At a stroke, it would appear, a new perspective on health and disease has opened up. By comparison of genomes from different individuals, it may be possible to identify the risk of getting disease and, armed with that knowledge, make the necessary changes in diet, lifestyle, and exposure to chemicals that would reduce it.

Genes encode for proteins, not for diseases, but do we know what proteins have been encoded for? Only in a few highly specific diseases. In Duchenne muscular dystrophy, for example, there is a defect in the synthesis of a key protein known as dystrophin, Common diseases like irritable bowel syndrome are likely to be the end result of an interaction of a number of factors, each with their own genetic and environmental regulators. And since IBS overlaps with other diseases as well as anxiety and depression, any genetic component will most probably encode for some generic factor in visceral sensitivity or emotional reactivity. It is all very complicated. Genes predispose to an illness in combination with other genes but environment brings that tendency out. The fact that environmentalchange can cause growth and connection of nerve cells, suggests regulation of gene expression by what happens. Any advance in knowledge rarely provides simple answers, just a vast array of unforeseen questions. But only 1% of the genome encodes for specific proteins, about 20,000 of them - the same number as in a nematode worm. Ten times as many are regulator genes, that are turned on and off by environmental factors and modifying the expression of certain genes. Anything that changes the expression of transmitters, modulates intracellular machinery, and induces growth and cell division will involve regulator genes. These then are the targets for treatment and prevention. The remaining 90% of the genome is thought to be junk, DNA fragments, stuff left by some viruses. Scientists have found no use for it as yet. Genetics, like human life, is a bit of a mess, not unlike the hard drive of your computer, which contains bits of everything you’ve deleted or copied.

Quackwatch

bionetics This site promotes a health test that can identify the "cause of IBS and other digestive disorders." The test is performed on a sample of hair which you must send in the post. The sample is then checked against 115 foods and is also checked for levels of pathogens, toxins and nutrients. It is claimed that whereas most food intolerances tests work by identifying key immune system markers like IgG and they "do not include pathogenic, toxic and nutritional screens, which we feel are equally important to IBS sufferers." The test costs £48 and the results will be returned within seven days.

I know of no sound evidence that supports these claims. Hair analysis can be used clinically to detect levels of some minerals, but not food intolerance or toxins in my experience.I would advise people to save their money.



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