Irritable bowel syndrome linked to allergies

People with allergies appear to be more likely to have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) than those without allergies.IBS is a chronic disorder of the large intestine or colon. It is the most common gastrointestinal disorder, affecting about 15 per cent of the general population. It appears in a cluster of symptoms including abdominal pain for 12 weeks within the past year, change in bowel habits, stool consistency or frequency, and relief of abdominal pain with defecation. In early childhood, allergic eczema (AE) is frequently associated with gastrointestinal dysfunction and food allergy. Also, various findings suggest indirectly that allergen exposure may lead to IBS symptoms in some patients, but the frequency has not been studied.To study the relation between IBS and allergen exposure, American researchers surveyed 125 adults: 39 were attending an allergy clinic, 36 were attending a gastroenterology clinic and the remaining 50 were being seen at a general medicine clinic. It was found that IBS was present in 44 per cent of the patients attending the allergy clinic, similar to the rate among patients at the gastroenterology clinic (39 per cent) and significantly greater than the 20 per cent rate seen among general clinic attendees. Overall, patients reporting allergic conditions such as hay fever, eczema, and asthma were three times more likely than other patients to have IBS.The findings suggest that patients who have typical IBS symptoms plus signs of allergies should be considered under a separate subgroup of IBS (atopic IBS), because they may have distinct pathophysiologic features and may benefit from specific therapeutic interventions, and a clinical history of AE may be a useful marker for patients with gut hypersensitivity and atopic IBS.