# Irritable Bowel Syndrome - You Are Not Alone by Dr. Douglas Drossman



## JeanG (Oct 20, 1999)

These are two short audio clips, a total of about 28 minutes, of Dr. Douglas Drossman speaking about irritable bowel syndrom. You'll need Real Player to listen to it. You may have to register with Medscape, but it's free, and easy to do.These are from the CBS HealthWatch Audio Archive at: http://healthwatch.medscape.com/medscape/p...udioarchive.asp Scroll down to the following paragraph and click on Audio I:"Irritable Bowel Syndrome: You're Not Alone (Audio Part 1 | Audio Part 2) Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) affects approximately 10% of the population, or 25 million Americans. In this downloadable audio clip, Dr. Douglas Drossman, professor of medicine and co-director of the functional GI disorders center at the University of Carolina, Chapel Hill, offers his renowned expertise on IBS."JeanG


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## SteveE (Jan 7, 1999)

This is great! Thanks JeanG!Here are some notes on content I made while listening--Part I1. Constipation vs. diarrhea --two conditions?2. Severity --wide range...about 2/3 are so mild, they don't go to the doctor.3. National survey shows about 25 million Americans have it and 65% are women. But it is worldwide and no difference demographically other than gender.4. Syndrome vs. disease & diagnosis5. Examples of things that affect IBS6. Typical case -- how to evaluate?7. DrugsMy general impressions of Part I:Newbies to the group should definately be directed to this. Veterans who want to hear a GOOD doctor's perspective on the above issues should also listen to this material.Question about Part I: He said something like the following at one point (I'm paraphrasing): "In the age of managed care, we can't give a colonoscopy and a CAT scan to everyone who walks in with abdominal pain..." Despite your uh gut reaction to that comment, I'm confused as to what good a CAT scan would be anyway. Anyone on here ever have one for IBS symptoms?Part II1. Treatment options -- a. constipation -- fiber dietary or supplements b. diarrhea -- loperimide c. pain -- meal related? antispasmodic more severe pain? antidepressants (lighter doses) pain receptors -- serotonin antagonists (5HT)...he said they aren't out yet, but isn't lotronex one of these?2. Brain - gut interactionImpressions of Part II...very short, too short to be very useful.


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## JeanG (Oct 20, 1999)

Hi Steve:I had many of the same impressions that you did - that it's very good but there were a few questions.I think he probably made a mistake where he said CAT scan. The reason I say this is I was just in the hospital for abdominal pain and they did I CT scan. I kept accidently saying CAT scan and they kept correcting me. lol So I'm assuming that's what happened here, although it shouldn't have.Re lotronex, there was no date on the audio clip so maybe it was done before it came out.I really enjoyed this one. It has a lot of good material, and was presented well enough that it was actually pleasant to listen too (except for the fact we have IBS!).JeanG


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