# Emotions May Affect Irritable Bowel Syndrome



## Joe (Dec 13, 1998)

*Emotions May Affect Irritable Bowel Syndrome*July 12, 2000 Reuters Health Information NEW YORK - A person's emotions and mental state may have an effect on the digestive system, particularly in people with a condition called irritable bowel syndrome, the results of two new studies suggest. Symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome vary from person to person but may include abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, and bloating. The underlying cause of the disorder, which affects women disproportionately, is uncertain. Both stress and psychiatric problems are known to aggravate symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, according to a team of researchers led by Dr. Svein Blomhoff, of the National Hospital in Oslo, Norway. In one of two studies published in the June issue of the journal Digestive Diseases and Sciences, the investigators tested the effects of emotional words on the digestive tracts of women with the condition, including some with psychiatric disorders and others without any mental illness. They also tested the impact of the words in women who did not have irritable bowel syndrome. From about 70 percent to 77 percent of the time, muscles in the rectum responded--either by relaxing or contracting--to words associated with anger, sadness or anxiety, the authors report. The reactions to sadness- and anxiety-related words were greatest in women with irritable bowel syndrome, they found. "The finding demonstrates the close interaction among mind, brain and gut," Blomhoff and colleagues write. In the other study, the same researchers found that people with irritable bowel syndrome have higher "rectal tone" than those without the condition, which may lead to constipation. Among women with irritable bowel syndrome, those who also had some sort of psychiatric disorder tended to have higher rectal tone than women without any mental illness, but the difference was not statistically significant. Even though the findings need to be confirmed in future studies, they highlight the need to consider a person's mental and emotional state when treating irritable bowel syndrome, the researchers conclude.------------------*Joe*


----------



## K9Mom (Sep 20, 1999)

Thanks for the article Joe! I wondered as I read it though, how many of the test participants actually had a thyroid disorder instead of a mental illness though. I've read that the two are confused so much that it is now law to test the thyroid before admission to a psych hospital?!


----------



## WOWSLP (Jul 13, 2000)

Joe, Thanks for sharing that article!


----------



## JeanG (Oct 20, 1999)

Thanks for posting this, Joe. JeanG


----------



## Rose (Mar 25, 1999)

Thanks for the article, Joe. How are you doing these days???------------------"Remember To Stop and Smell the Roses"Rose (C-type)


----------



## Nan (Jul 14, 1999)

Joe, Thanks for posting the column. I received this article on my Dr. Koop newsletter but didn't know how to post it. There were other articles on IBS also.


----------



## Guest (Jul 18, 2000)

Thanks for this joe confirms more of my suspicions!


----------



## Joe (Dec 13, 1998)

Your welcome to everyone. I thought it was interesting.Hi Rose,Thanks for asking...I'm doing the same as ever...coping the best I can and looking for a miracle but short of that I do seem to have things under control but every now and then LOOK OUT!!! That darn IBS Monster rears it's ugly head every now and then just to keep me in line I guess. I read the thread that your doing better with the herb supplements. I'm glad for you. Keep on keepin' on.------------------*Joe*


----------



## John (Aug 6, 1999)

Very true indeed!------------------*Regards John*


----------



## Guest (Jul 19, 2000)

Joe,Thanks for this interesting and informative article......------------------LET'S ALL PRAY FOR A CURE TO THIS IBS SOON!BETTIE


----------



## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Joe, thanks for posting this, here are the two studies they are refering too.Intestinal reactivity to words with emotional content and brain information processing in irritable bowel syndrome. Blomhoff S, Spetalen S, Jacobsen MB, Vatn M, Malt UF Department of Psychosomatic and Behavioural Medicine, National Hospital, Oslo, Norway. The intestinal reactivity to emotional experiences is poorly understood. We therefore compared healthy controls with nonpsychiatric irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients and IBS patients with comorbid phobic anxiety disorders with respect to rectal wall reactivity during exposure to everyday words with emotional content. We found that 70.3% of the subjects responded either with increased or decreased rectal tone during exposure to anger words, 75.0% when exposed to sadness words, and 76.6% when exposed to anxiety words. We also investigated event-related potentials in the brain to the same stimuli. We observed significant group differences in the frontal brain to sadness (P < 0.001) and anxiety (P = 0.013) distracter words, and threshold significant group difference to anger (P = 0.053) distracter words. Rectal wall reactivity during the word series significantly predicted frontal amplitude to the same word series, indicating a close interaction among mind, brain, and gut.Rectal tone and brain information processing in irritable bowel syndrome. Blomhoff S, Spetalen S, Jacobsen MB, Vatn M, Malt UF Department of Psychosomatic and Behavioural Medicine, National Hospital, Oslo, Norway. We studied differences in rectal tone between healthy controls, nonpsychiatric irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients, and IBS patients with comorbid phobic anxiety disorders to assess the impact of psychiatric comorbidity on rectal tone. The groups were additionally compared with respect to brain information processing of everyday words with emotional content to see if we could identify an association between perception of emotional material in the brain and rectal tone. We found that both nonpsychiatric IBS patients and IBS patients with phobic anxiety disorder had increased baseline rectal tone compared with healthy controls (F = 9.81, P < 0.001). The phobic anxiety patients tended to have increased tone compared with nonpsychiatric IBS patients, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Similar differences were found in the attentional elements of brain information processing activity assessed by event-related potentials. Rectal tone significantly predicted brain reactivity to emotional words, suggesting that changes in intestinal motor function may influence brain perception.I also think this one is interesting on this topic.ClinicalCentral fear circuits less activated in IBS patientsSAN DIEGO, CA, May 22 (Reuters Health) - The threat of visceral discomfort appears to evokean emotional rather than fearful response in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS),researchers report at the annual Digestive Disease Week meetings held here.Dr. Bruce D. Naliboff, of UCLA Medical Center, in Los Angeles, with colleagues there and atUC Irvine Medical Center, performed a PET study of 12 IBS patients and 12 controls to examinethe brain response associated with the fear of anticipated visceral discomfort.Brain scans were obtained on all subjects at baseline, during moderate rectal distension andduring expected but undelivered noxious distension. "Although we know that IBS is exacerbatedby stress, we conducted this study to learn more about the connection between the disease andbrain function," Dr. Naliboff said in an interview with Reuters Health.Brain scans showed that controls had "greater baseline activity in mid anterior cingulate cortex(ACC), and greater activation in the perigenual mid ACC, lateral prefrontal cortex, thalamus,periaqueductal grey and medullary regions" than did IBS patients.During visceral stimulation, "IBS patients showed greater activation in mid anterior cingulatecortex as well as posterior cingulate," compared with controls, the researchers note.They found that expected but undelivered rectal discomfort activated the central fear circuits inthe controls. IBS patients showed "less activation of the fear circuits but greater activity inposterior cingulate cortex.""Our findings indicate that the parts of the brain that respond in IBS patients are the same parts ofthe brain involved in processing emotionally charged information," Dr. Naliboff said. "Thesedata give us a better understanding of this stress-related disorder and may provide informationabout potential new medication targets," he explained."This brain imaging study is one of a series examining IBS, dyspepsia and fibromyalgia," Dr.Naliboff added.-Westport Newsroom 203 319 2700------------------ http://www.ibshealth.com/


----------



## Krissy (Jul 6, 2000)

Hi Joe,i bought a new book last night that i was referred to buy,its SO GOOD! excellent book,called "the mind & gut connection" by William Salt,what a book,i started reading it last night,you won't believe the stuff in there,about IBS,the mind,etc.No doubt,definite connection,good reading.Krissy


----------

