Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diet

Aloe Vera an alternative*

SAN DIEGO, May 22 - Patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) use herbal remedies and other complementary therapies twice as often as patients with other inflammatory bowel diseases, British researchers reported at the Digestive Disease Week meetings here.

IBS is an inflammatory intestinal disorder that is characterized by abdominal pain, alternating constipation and diarrhoea, bloating and depression. It affects mostly women, with the onset usually occurring between ages 20 to 30 years.

Dr. Louise Langmead and colleagues at St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine in London, UK, asked 225 patients with intestinal and other medical problems about their use of therapies such as herbs, massage and traditional Chinese medicine. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease, which includes such disorders as IBS, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, were asked to also complete a quality-of-life questionnaire.

Langmead's group found that half of all patients with IBS used complementary therapies compared with 26% of patients with other types of inflammatory bowel disease.

"Although St. John's wort was the most commonly used complementary therapy for the study group as a whole, aloe vera was the most frequently used...among IBD patients," Langmead told Reuters Health.*

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