Effective treatment may have been found for irritable bowel syndrome

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have found that a nonabsorbable antibiotic may be an effective long-term treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a disease affecting more than an estimated 20 percent of Americans.

IBS is an intestinal disorder that causes abdominal pain or discomfort, cramping or bloating and diarrhea and constipation. It is a long-term condition that usually begins in adolescence or in early adult life. It is one of the top 10 most frequently diagnosed conditions among U.S. physicians and affects women more often than men.

The findings, which showed that participants benefited from the antibiotic use even after the course of treatment ended, support previously published research identifying small intestine bacterial overgrowth as a possible cause of the disease.

“These results clearly show that antibiotics offer a new treatment approach and a new hope for people with IBS,” said Mark Pimentel, MD, first author on the study and director of the GI Motility Program at CedarsSinai.

Because the cause of IBS has been elusive, treatments for the disease have historically focused on reducing its symptoms by giving medications that either slow or speed up the digestive process.

“We were pleased but not surprised with the results of this study,” said Pimentel. “The next step i s to start larger, multicentered studies to confirm the . . . results of this study, which suggest that people can benefit from targeted antibiotic treatment.”