# The Care and Feeding of the Irritable Bowel, Dr. De Lamar Gibbons



## Jeffrey Roberts (Apr 15, 1987)

The Care and Feeding of the Irritable Bowel De Lamar Gibbons, M.D., 1988Academy of Health, Box 497, Lava Hot Springs Idaho 83246


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## SteveE (Jan 7, 1999)

I finally found a copy of this book and read it last night. I think there's a good reason why you don't see it around anymore--it seems the M.D. author makes some confusing and potentially very inaccurate statements. The worst of which is how he shifts between terms so much...at one point he'll be talking about colitis or crohn's and then shift to irritable bowel disease or inflammatory bowel disease with little or no transition as though they are all equal gut problems.That being said, between the confusing use of terms and occasionally dated or inaccurate statements, I believe there may be something to the overall theme of his advice--gut fermentation of what we eat may well be at the center of what causes our IBS symptoms. Since there is far more recent information available on that theory, I wouldn't suggest going out of your way to obtain this book.


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## SteveE (Jan 7, 1999)

Ooops...I just noticed this is the same author, but I believe my review pertains to a different book by the Dr. Gibbons:The Self-help Way to Treat Colitis and Other IBS DisordersSee what I mean about using the terms interchangably? It's as though he's saying that colitis is a subtype of IBS in the title itself! Anyone read the other book that this thread is supposed to be about?


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## moldie (Sep 25, 1999)

I sort of questioned the notion too SteveE, but I do think that book has a lot of merit. I like the way he explains why certain foods tend to be a problem for those with IBS and IBD. He does seem to largely base the similarities of the conditions on the fact that the diet he reccommends for colitis (old term for IBS) seems to work for those with Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis though. Here's some of what he had to say:"According to the text books, there are several fairly distinct forms of irritable bowel disease. In actuality, the varieties are more alike than they are different. There is considerable debate and confusion as to whether or not ulcerative colitis and Chrohn's disease, the major forms of irritable bowel disease, are really different diseases, or if they might not be different expressions of the same pathological process at play in different parts of the intestine.""Ulcerative colitis is the term applied to inflammatory disease of the colon; it is typically characterized by bloody diarrhea. Chrohn's disease is defined as a chronic inflammation of th small bowel, characterized cramping abdominal pains, diarrhea and bowel obstruction. In the author's experience, both respont to a diet devoid of lactose, fructose, mannitol and sorbitol and is helpful for diarrheas from any cause. This suggests that the conditions are closely related and that the same metabolic flaw is likely to be responsible for both. The respondents to our survey supported this concept as the victims of both diseases reported improvement with the colitis diet." He goes on to say:"Ulcerative colitis is the end stage of irritable bowel disease manifested by chronic diarrhea (often bloody), large amounts of mucus in the stool, malnutrition with weight loss, anemia, hair loss, kidney stones, abdominal pain and, commonly, arthiritis."He goes on with describing what can happen with the bowel, describing symptoms/complications, and treatment.It is an interesting book and I do think there might be a lot to be said about the way he approaches it. I think he does believe that by avoiding fructose, lactose, mannitol, and sorbitol sugars, you can eliminate a lot of the symptoms, and more immportantly prevent irritation of the colon which in turn will slow down the condition from getting progressively worse. He claims these sugars tend to cause more fermentation in the IBS patient who fail to digest them and they give off gas, alcohol, and lactic acid which causes the irritation.He also states that if avoiding the sugars does not help, then one should consider wheat/gluten as they may have Celiac Sprue. They also may have problems with all of the above. however.I would recommend the book you mentioned Steve. Sorry, I haven't read the one Jeff mentioned by the same author, but if I happen to see it at the library, I shall pick it up, as I do like the way Gibbons seems to put a lot of it into perspective and it is not a difficult read as it is written with the patient in mind. I also think the diet he reccommends is in line with what a lot of doctors would agree with as far as what foods seem to be triggers and it is not an unhealthy diet. Care to give us a your review Jeff? [This message has been edited by moldie (edited 03-07-2001).]


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