dssfaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 2007 July | For My Tummy

Archive for July, 2007

In this post I will try to outline the basics of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) therapy. The harsh truth is that there is no magic pill or potion. IBS is a condition rather than an illness. I know, when you are in the middle of the current round of bodily “wrongness” that is IBS, you […]

The following is a press release announcing that Konsyl has launched a combination of PRObiotics and PREbiotics especially for people with IBS. As regular readers know, I recently stressed that Align (for example) or NSI probiotics needed to be taken along with a PREbiotic such as Acacia fiber when managing your IBS.

I am not too thrilled with Konsyl’s choice of fibers. The combination approach–of inulin and psyllium fibers–does seem

The following review of Align begins by examining the packaging, goes on to talk about starting to take Align, and concludes with an offer for a $5 discount Code for ordering Align on the web, plus a call for best suggestions for naming the 1 to 4 scale of reactions to Align.

Examining the Package

OK. We know that Align ™ shipped this reviewer’s first month’s supply in good time. It reached

Don’t Drink the Water
In my teens, quite a while ago, I often mentioned tummy pains to my family doctor. While the diagnosis of IBS didn’t exist, he did give me a word of wisdom that helped. He said: “Don’t drink ice water!”
I have now extended that to “Don’t drink cold, refrigerated water!” I have a […]

There is a nationwide progams of clinical trials for investigational drugs to treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome. As far as I know, they are unrelated studies. Contact information for the IBS-D Study is via website, and you get to choose a (fairly) nearby location. Here is the website.
For the IBS-C study, there is a phone […]

It’s getting sexier by the minute!

The reason I have produced all the material below, about the role of PRObiotics and PREbiotics in IBS management, is to lay a foundation for discussion of Align ™, the new PRObiotic for IBS that has FDA approval and is supported by clinical trials. There is a lot of hype about Align ™ in the online community of people with IBS, and I want users

Briefly, it’s important to know what PREbiotics are–essentially, they are the kind of soluble fiber that stays in the gut without being digested. Because of that, they reach the large intestine and colon. And because of that they preserve the good bugs/bacteria–the PRObiotics–that would otherwise be destroyed before reaching the large intestine, where they are […]

If you can get past terms such as oligosaccharides–I bet you can–these two articles are recommended for understanding IBS.
PREbiotics
and
PREbiotic Substances
They are mashed up–summarized together–in the next post, above.

It’s HOT!

Remember to drink water, and remember to drink MORE water!
It’s hot everywhere except Pacifica, California, according to my niece’s blog–and maybe a few other places.

I have modified the following table, which provides a shorthand summary of this review article on PREbiotics and PRObiotics. There was a typo on the entries which are now Hyperlipedemia and Hypercholesterolemia.
TABLE 1. Strength of the evidence for improvement of body functions by probiotics and prebiotics [Just scroll down and ignore all the white space […]

I am recommending the Proceedings of a Symposium on PREbiotics and PRObiotics. It is information that documents the helpful effects of PREbiotics such as FiberSure (Inulin) and Levan, though it doesn’t mention Acacia, which is a more complete fructo-oligo-saccharide (FOS), and is known for its use in the management of IBS. The language is sometimes technical, but you can also glean a lot from the Abstracts at the beginning

This article is in the category “Digesting IBS Information”–a pun, based on some of the information digest articles I’ve already posted in the category probiotics.

Probiotics are in the news that people with IBS have been following. They are a selling feature for Activia yogurt and DanActive cottage cheese. I have a category just for probiotics. The makers of Align will be going all out to promote their probiotic for the