u/HeatherForIBS

A new study (link in reply below so as not to trip spam filters) found that insomnia is extremely common in people with IBS and it directly affects IBS symptoms as well.

Researchers followed 700 IBS patients and found that nearly 39% had moderate to severe insomnia.

Those with insomnia also had worse IBS symptoms across the board.

Plus - they also had more upper GI symptoms, more body-wide symptoms, and lower quality of life scores.

What I found most interesting is that insomnia was linked less to IBS severity alone and more to the bigger gut-brain picture, including anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, and functional dyspepsia.

In other words, poor sleep may be an intrinsic part of the same nervous system pattern whole that keeps an IBS gut more sensitive and hyper-reactive.

A huge new review and meta-analysis in the American Journal of Gastroenterology (direct link is in comment below post so as to not trip the spam filters) found that antibiotic use may increase the risk of developing IBS, especially when antibiotics are used after gastrointestinal infections.

Researchers analyzed 31 studies with more than 422,000 people and found that IBS developed in 26% of antibiotic users compared with 20% of nonusers. Overall, antibiotic users had about a 30% higher risk of IBS.

The risk was even higher when antibiotics were used for gut infections. In those cases, antibiotic users had a 71% higher risk of later developing IBS.

Broad-spectrum antibiotics in particular, during gut infections, may disrupt the gut microbiome in ways that can increase the risks of developing IBS.

I think this is even more provocative in light of the recent news that good guts have a bacteria IBS guts don’t, and that scientists just found a hidden gut bug tied to good health.

This is a pretty provocative finding that just hit:

A massive global study (link is in comment below to not trip spam filters) found a previously unknown gut bacterium, called CAG-170, that shows up consistently in healthy people around the world.

And that bacterium is much lower in people with conditions like IBS, IBD, obesity, and autoimmune diseases.

This microbe appears to help support the entire gut ecosystem, partly by producing vitamin B12 and helping other beneficial bacteria thrive.

Researchers think CAG-170 may be a key marker of gut health and could one day be targeted by next-generation probiotics designed to restore microbiome balance.

This is a pretty provocative finding that just hit:

A massive global study (link is in comment below to not trip spam filters) found a previously unknown gut bacterium, called CAG-170, that shows up consistently in healthy people around the world.

And that bacterium is much lower in people with conditions like IBS, IBD, obesity, and autoimmune diseases.

This microbe appears to help support the entire gut ecosystem, partly by producing vitamin B12 and helping other beneficial bacteria thrive.

Researchers think CAG-170 may be a key marker of gut health and could one day be targeted by next-generation probiotics designed to restore microbiome balance.

This is a pretty provocative finding that just hit:

A massive global study (link is in comment below to not trip spam filters) found a previously unknown gut bacterium, called CAG-170, that shows up consistently in healthy people around the world.

And that bacterium is much lower in people with conditions like IBS, IBD, obesity, and autoimmune diseases.

This microbe appears to help support the entire gut ecosystem, partly by producing vitamin B12 and helping other beneficial bacteria thrive.

Researchers think CAG-170 may be a key marker of gut health and could one day be targeted by next-generation probiotics designed to restore microbiome balance.

Nutshell result was a 40% lower risk of diarrhea, but the specific probiotic strains really mattered.

A new meta-analysis (link is posted in reply below to not trip spam filters) looked at multiple clinical trials in adults to see if probiotics help prevent diarrhea caused by antibiotics.

The review combined results from 15 studies with over 7,400 participants.

The main finding is really helpful!

People who took probiotics had a significantly lower risk of developing antibiotic-associated diarrhea - about a 40% reduction compared to those who didn’t take them.

The study also suggests that probiotics may help reduce infections like C. difficile, which can cause more serious GI problems and even be life-threatening.

The key factors that help the probiotics work here:

1. Start taking probiotics early in the course of antibiotics (within the first two days)
2. Take the probiotics separately from the medications (try at least two hours apart)

Overall, the study concluded that probiotics can be very helpful in preventing antibiotic-related diarrhea in adults. But - it also found results can vary depending on the probiotic strain used.

A new AGA research paper looks at medical gaslighting in gastroenterology.

This is when patients feel their symptoms are dismissed or not taken seriously.

Sound familiar?

Medical gaslighting happens all too often with IBS because:

• symptoms are real but hard to measure
• there are no clear tests
• diagnosis relies on patient reporting (and doctors who believe their patients)

Gaslighting is also more likely to happen to women, children, and marginalized groups.

Huh.

The researchers’ conclusion won’t surprise you:

"IBS patients are at higher risk of being dismissed, but their symptoms are real and deserve to be taken seriously."

Link to full study is posed in reply link below so this post will clear the Reddit filters. You can also download a PDF of the study in its entirety.