Functional Medicine treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

What is IBS?

IBS is a diagnosis made based on symptom patterns and when serious causes of the symptoms have been ruled out, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Exclusion of other diseases can be done with various examinations including endoscopic examination of the intestine, blood and stool tests, but this is not always necessary and is an individual assessment based on symptoms and background.

IBS is a multifactorial disease, meaning that there can be many different causes. The established healthcare system may have difficulty accommodating patients whose symptom picture is diverse and diffuse, and where specific answers and causes cannot be found in studies.

Why does IBS occur?

There can be many reasons why some people develop symptoms such as bloating, constipation, loose stools, stomach cramps and many more, and they are often very different.

These causes are what we look at in more detail in the functional medicine approach. We look at all factors to find the cause or causes of why the individual patient develops symptoms. For example, it is with a focus on the chemical system, where in particular the diet and the breakdown of this through the intestinal system can play a role, and here we see whether you have fungal growth, parasites or other uninvited guests and whether you have a high diversity of beneficial bacteria. There are many variables to be assessed and often it is a big puzzle, where the missing pieces must be found and treated before the symptoms of IBS disappear.

We always base our work on relevant research in the field as well as in medical disciplines including neurology, immunology, biochemistry, physiology, etc.

It is important that the practitioner has a very good understanding of how the medical disciplines interact with each other. Without this understanding, it can be difficult to view and understand the complexity of the body as a whole, and to sharpen focus on the relevant areas. This is precisely the understanding that our experts in functional medicine are very keen on.

What can you do yourself?

There is a lot you can do yourself, but it can often be a daunting task due to a lot of conflicting information on the internet and social media, as well as the fact that no one is the same and therefore should not be treated and advised the same. However, there are some areas that recur when we look at the research, and this can be a great place to start before you book an appointment with one of our therapists.

Here are some of the areas you can try out for yourself:

• The diet should always be assessed and reviewed. If you want to read more about this, you can do so in this article
• In addition, it may be a good idea to look at basic factors such as sleep, relaxation, exercise, alcohol and smoking. Here everyone can often adjust some things, but it is our experience that patients with IBS have in many cases already tried to change these factors without any noticeable effect. It is important to keep the basic factors as mentioned above in mind, but in many cases there is a need for more thorough examinations and assessments, which can be done in consultation with our functional medicine experts.
• See if you can make a timeline of what happened in the time leading up to you first experiencing IBS symptoms. This can be a good exercise as everything about your health can have an impact on the development of symptoms. It could be major changes on the mental front or it could be trips abroad that subsequently caused stomach problems or other changes that may have influenced the development of IBS. Make a timeline and see if you can find any connections.

What else can be investigated?

In addition to any examinations by your own doctor, we have the option of conducting in-depth examinations of your digestive system. This is done by reputable laboratories, where we can gain a detailed insight into the intestinal system based on the test results from you. The results can often explain the symptoms and mean that targeted treatment and advice can be provided.

It requires a very good understanding of immunology, microbiota, physiology, etc. to understand these tests. During a consultation, it can be determined whether testing is relevant or whether there are more obvious places to start.

References:
National Library of Medicine – IBS
National Library of Medicine – Calprotectin
National Library of Medicine – Diagnosis and Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome