BACKGROUND The health-related quality of life is impaired in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders seen in referral centres. AIM To determine whether the health-related quality of life is impaired in subjects with functional disorders in the community and whether any differences can be explained by psychological co-morbidity. METHODS In a population-based, nested, case-control...

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common, costly, and disabling dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract. Mental disorders can be one of the main factors in the onset, continuation, or exacerbation of gastrointestinal signs and symptoms in people with this syndrome. Commitment and acceptance therapy is a mixture of four approaches of awareness, acceptance, commitment, and beha...

BACKGROUND In secondary care, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is frequently associated with non-colonic symptoms including lethargy, backache and chest pains which can result in inappropriate referral to different specialities with the condition remaining unrecognised. This could also be a problem in the elderly where comorbidity is common, especially as irritable bowel syndrome is usually assoc...

CONTEXT The irritable bowel syndrome and primary headache are two chronic diseases characterized by symptoms of recurring pain and affect approximately 10%-20% of the general population. OBJECTIVES To study the prevalence of primary headache in volunteers with irritable bowel syndrome in a Brazilian urban community. METHODS It was evaluated the prevalence of primary headache associated with...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Irritable bowel syndrome patients form a heterogeneous group with a variable contribution of central and peripheral components. The peripheral component is prominent in irritable bowel syndrome developing after infection (post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome) and this has proved a profitable area of research. RECENT FINDINGS Recent studies have overthrown the dogma that ...

BACKGROUND Functional constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation are highly prevalent and affect the quality of life of those who suffer from them. AIMS To evaluate quality of life in patients with functional constipation and irritable bowel disease in accordance with the Rome III criteria, using the PAC-QOL and SF-36 questionnaires. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional ...

BACKGROUND Alosetron is a potent and selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, which has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of female patients with non-constipated irritable bowel syndrome. AIMS To investigate the effect of alosetron on whole gut, small bowel and colonic transit in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (Study 1) and healthy volunteers (Study 2). SUBJECTS Thirteen pati...

Compressed air or a nitrogen-oxygen mixture produces from 0.3 MPa nitrogen narcosis. The traditional view was that anaesthesia or narcosis occurs when the volume of a hydrophobic site is caused to expand beyond a critical amount by the absorption of molecules of a narcotic gas. The observation of the pressure reversal effect on general anaesthesia has for a long time supported the lipid theory....

BACKGROUND/AIMS Longtime chronic malabsorption may among other things cause a lack of liposoluble vitamins. Vitamin E deficiency can lead to formation of lipofuscin aggregates. Its deficiency is also associated with an increased lipofuscinosis of the bowel, i.e. brown bowel syndrome. METHODS Systematic research via Medline on brown bowel syndrome, lipofuscinosis, and vitamin E deficiency was ...

Both irritable bowel syndrome and endometriosis are common conditions, although symptomatic gastrointestinal endometriosis is extremely rare. We report the case of a patient initially thought to have irritable bowel syndrome, in whom the diagnosis of endometriosis only became clear following a laparotomy for small bowel obstruction. This case highlights the need to question the diagnosis in pat...