# About.com- Why Dr. Oz Was Wrong About IBS



## VSsupport (Feb 12, 2008)

As I discussed previously, Dr. Oz hosted a segment on IBS recently (see, "Dr. Oz on IBS"). As you can see by the comments following my previous blog, I was not the only one who thought Oz's coverage was awful. I recently heard from another reader, David in Seattle, who initially had me laughing out loud with his description that he at first couldn't even continue to watch the segment without wanting to throw his monitor "out the window." However, his remarks were so spot on and heartfelt, I felt compelled to share them with you:



> "I've just finished watching "'Dr. Oz" and his take on IBS. I thought I had heard every ridiculous platitude imaginable concerning the origins of this miserable condition and how to address it, but this video has got to be on one the most dismissive, condescending 10 minutes of of childish nonsense I've seen yet on any topic, let alone one which devastates so many lives. I'm not sure who comes off worse in this program, the presenter or the grinning, gullible audience, but for those of us who suffer from "IBS", yet another "expert" spreading the notion that "IBS" sufferers basically are to blame for their fate, due to not being able to handle stress, and foolishly consuming artificial sweetener and chocolate is extremely unfortunate, and frankly infuriating.
> 
> I believe the entire notion that ANY single, distinct, discrete disease entity or process is responsible for the troubles of EVERY person who has been told they have "IBS" is absurd on its face. Virtually every IBD sufferer I've encountered had been told for years they had IBS before finally getting an accurate diagnosis for Crohn's or Colitis. And this is without even including more obscure conditions such as Abdominal Angina, Bile Acid Malabsorption, the Ischemic, Collagenous, Lymphocytic, Pseudomembranous, and Microscopic Colitises, Acute Mesenteric Ischemia, Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth, a variety of cancers, etc. "IBS" is a wastebasket diagnosis whose existence has more to do with the medical community's refusal to admit it does not know something, than it has to do with clinical realities. Let's not forget that in the days of blood letting & 'Doctors' going into bubonic plague sites wearing flower filled bird-beak masks, the "medical community" was just as certain of the legitimacy of "Humors" and "Miasma" as it is now is of the existence, prevalence and etiology of "IBS".
> 
> ...


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