New Research Study Concludes That Chronic Abdominal Pain, or IBS - Affecting 15% of Children in the U.S. - is Widely Mistreated With Antidepressants

LOS ANGELES, June 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- For years, physicians have thought of chronic abdominal pain, also known as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), as the result of an overactive nervous system.  Because the root problem was determined to be essentially psychosomatic, treatment typically consisted of antidepressants.

However a new study published in World Journal of Gastroenterology suggests the disorder is an immune-gastro-enterological syndrome involving many organic causes. Effective treatment requires a comprehensive physiological approach. Although stress is a factor, those with IBS should be relieved to know it is not all in their head; food, allergies, genetics, bacterial overgrowth, antibiotic use and a host of other non-psychological factors have been identified as causes of this disease.

While the causes of IBS are diverse, they all have one thing in common: They come together in IBS sufferers to create inflammation in the G.I. tract.  Indeed, IBS patients have intestinal bacteria that are different from normal adults and children both in the kind (more bad kind) and the amount (an overabundance) of bacteria.  

According to the study's lead researcher, Dr. Pejman Katiraei of LifeSpan medicine in Los Angeles, "IBS is very complicated and yet simple disorder. There are many different reasons why IBS manifests yet they all create the same response in the patient, inflammation and increased intestinal permeability that leads to a condition called Leaky Gut Syndrome."

The mis-diagnosis of IBS as a purely psychological disorder and subsequent over prescribing of anti depressants should change based on the  findings published in Dr. Katiraei's paper, "Many doctors including specialists still question whether or not IBS is an inflammatory disorder since neither endoscopy nor biopsies show this problem. This lack of visible pathology is why many patients are told there is nothing physically wrong with them. In fact excess inflammation and a breakdown in the functional integrity of the intestinal mucosa are clearly present."

The majority of children with IBS grow up to be adults with IBS. Beyond the discomfort of chronic abdominal pain, IBS is associated with increased illness, loss of work, depression and hospitalization.

LifeSpan medicine and Dr. Katiraei have started a program focused exclusively on the treatment of IBS for adults and children.

Dr. Katiraei is available for immediate comment. The complete research study is available upon request. Dr. Katiraei's biography and additional information about LifeSpan medicine is available online: http://www.lifespanmedicine.com

SOURCE LifeSpan medicine