Irritable Bowel Syndrome

 
January Issue of Patient Care Online Digital Edition is Now Live
December 16, 2024

Find details on US colorectal cancer screening rates, dietary interventions for people with IBS, and research on the primary drivers of cost of IBD care.

Food vs Medicine for IBS: Dietary Measures First, New Study Suggests
April 25, 2024

More participants consuming either of 2 common IBS dietary regimens experienced significant and sustained symptom relief vs those given pharmacotherapy.

Gastro Pop Quiz: Endoscopic Evaluation in Crohn Disease
January 24, 2024

A 10-second check of your GI IQ.

Daily Dose: Acupuncture for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
January 04, 2023

Your daily dose of clinical news you may have missed.

Acupuncture May be a Viable, Effective Treatment Option for IBS, Suggests New Research
January 03, 2023

In patients with IBS-D, 2 types of acupuncture delivered substantial improvements in abdominal pain score and frequency of loose stool after 4 weeks of treatment.

SSRIs and Triptans: Safe as Combination Therapy?
February 01, 2008

Depression was diagnosed 6 years earlier in a 37-year-old woman; it has been successfully managed since then with fluoxetine and outpatient psychotherapy. Since her teenage years, the patient has also experienced sporadic (fewer than 3 or 4 per year) mild or occasionally severe headaches, which she has usually self-treated with over-thecounter (OTC) agents or "just slept off."

Depression:
August 01, 2007

ABSTRACT: Antidepressants and psychotherapy are effective treatments for major depression. In selecting an antidepressant, consider any previous response or family history of a response to a medication as well as anticipated side effects. Advise patients that antidepressants take at least 4 to 6 weeks to have a full therapeutic effect and that only about half of patients respond to the first drug prescribed. If the patient fails to respond or experiences intolerable side effects, it is usually advisable to substitute an antidepressant with a different mechanism of action. A combined approach using medication and psychotherapy often produces optimal results.

Depression:
July 01, 2007

The diagnostic criteria for major depression are anhedonia, depressed mood, feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt, inability to concentrate, fatigue, insomnia or hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation or retardation, significant weight loss or gain, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Five or more of these symptoms must be present for at least 2 weeks, and one of them must be anhedonia or depressed mood. Conditions that can present with depression include dysthymia, bipolar disorder, cyclothymia, and adjustment disorder. Depression may also result from substance abuse or from the physiological conditions associated with a medical disorder, such as spinal or head injury, AIDS, or cancer.

Low T3 Level: An Indication for Treatment?
June 01, 2007

I am an adult psychiatric nurse practitioner, and a significant part of my practice has been the treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism. Whenever a patient has depression and low energy, I measure free T4, free T3, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. In most of the subclinical hypothyroidism I have detected, the TSH level is normal. In many cases, the only level that is low is the free T3. When liothyronine is prescribed for these patients, their symptoms of depression and tiredness decrease and their need for antidepressants has, in a few cases, been eliminated.

Two Women With Severe Headaches: Different Symptoms, Similar Approaches
May 01, 2007

The headaches vary in severity, but she usually has severeheadaches (8 on a 10-point visual analog scale[VAS]) once or twice a week; she describes the latter assevere throbbing or pounding pain on the top of thehead but also involving the occipital and frontalareas and occasionally one or the other temple.