02-07-2025
What a load of IBS: new research shows tummy troubles could be in the mind
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) affects around one in five people, according to the government's Health Direct website, but scientists now believe the mind has a lot to do with it.
Shane Hodge, a former connoiseur of cheese and chocolate milkshakes, has been living with debilitating IBS symptoms for seven years since being hospitalised for food poisoning.
He agrees with the new research from the University of Melbourne, and said stress, paranoia and anxiety make his IBS worse.
"You're stressed and embarrassed about 'what if you poo your pants'? ... my life was a misery," the 66-year-old said.
"Your head is linked to your tummy and backside, and causing great disruption in the force ...once you've had a few bad episodes of that fear, it really stuffs up your life."
Read more from The Senior:
IBS is a chronic and often debilitating condition, with symptoms including abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and unpredictable bowel movements.
Mr Hodge said he became "like a GPS" in knowing where all the closest public toilets were around town as panic would often consume him.
He's now using a daily probiotic from Qiara which he said "calmed" his gut symptoms and anxiety, though he still needs to keep the cheese to an absolute minimum.
A recent 6-month study from University of Melbourne found only 75 per cent of study participants were able to reduce or manage IBS symptoms through a low FODMAP diet (which restricts trigger foods like onions, garlic, apples, milk and wheat).
But the study also found psychological traits like "gut-specific anxiety, personal control and perceptions of illness" might also play a role in symptoms, said Associate Professor Jessica Biesiekierski.
She explained in IBS, communication between the gut and the brain can become "oversensitive to normal signals", which can cause symptoms of IBS.
"Stress can make it worse. Understanding this helps guide treatments that can calm these signals and improve symptoms," Professor Biesiekierski said.
The research team is now launching a world-first international clinical trial to see if a type of brain-training - exposure-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) - makes a difference.
"CBT helps people with IBS retrain how their brain responds to gut symptoms and feared foods, reducing anxiety and avoidance through gradual exposure," said Professor Biesiekierski.
"Unlike the low FODMAP diet, which works by avoiding trigger foods, CBT can help patients reduce fear and avoidance by gradually reintroducing those same foods."
The trial will be a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and Karolinska Institute.
Around 200 participants will take part in 12 weeks of treatment entirely online from their own homes.
Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) affects around one in five people, according to the government's Health Direct website, but scientists now believe the mind has a lot to do with it.
Shane Hodge, a former connoiseur of cheese and chocolate milkshakes, has been living with debilitating IBS symptoms for seven years since being hospitalised for food poisoning.
He agrees with the new research from the University of Melbourne, and said stress, paranoia and anxiety make his IBS worse.
"You're stressed and embarrassed about 'what if you poo your pants'? ... my life was a misery," the 66-year-old said.
"Your head is linked to your tummy and backside, and causing great disruption in the force ...once you've had a few bad episodes of that fear, it really stuffs up your life."
Read more from The Senior:
IBS is a chronic and often debilitating condition, with symptoms including abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and unpredictable bowel movements.
Mr Hodge said he became "like a GPS" in knowing where all the closest public toilets were around town as panic would often consume him.
He's now using a daily probiotic from Qiara which he said "calmed" his gut symptoms and anxiety, though he still needs to keep the cheese to an absolute minimum.
A recent 6-month study from University of Melbourne found only 75 per cent of study participants were able to reduce or manage IBS symptoms through a low FODMAP diet (which restricts trigger foods like onions, garlic, apples, milk and wheat).
But the study also found psychological traits like "gut-specific anxiety, personal control and perceptions of illness" might also play a role in symptoms, said Associate Professor Jessica Biesiekierski.
She explained in IBS, communication between the gut and the brain can become "oversensitive to normal signals", which can cause symptoms of IBS.
"Stress can make it worse. Understanding this helps guide treatments that can calm these signals and improve symptoms," Professor Biesiekierski said.
The research team is now launching a world-first international clinical trial to see if a type of brain-training - exposure-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) - makes a difference.
"CBT helps people with IBS retrain how their brain responds to gut symptoms and feared foods, reducing anxiety and avoidance through gradual exposure," said Professor Biesiekierski.
"Unlike the low FODMAP diet, which works by avoiding trigger foods, CBT can help patients reduce fear and avoidance by gradually reintroducing those same foods."
The trial will be a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and Karolinska Institute.
Around 200 participants will take part in 12 weeks of treatment entirely online from their own homes.
Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) affects around one in five people, according to the government's Health Direct website, but scientists now believe the mind has a lot to do with it.
Shane Hodge, a former connoiseur of cheese and chocolate milkshakes, has been living with debilitating IBS symptoms for seven years since being hospitalised for food poisoning.
He agrees with the new research from the University of Melbourne, and said stress, paranoia and anxiety make his IBS worse.
"You're stressed and embarrassed about 'what if you poo your pants'? ... my life was a misery," the 66-year-old said.
"Your head is linked to your tummy and backside, and causing great disruption in the force ...once you've had a few bad episodes of that fear, it really stuffs up your life."
Read more from The Senior:
IBS is a chronic and often debilitating condition, with symptoms including abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and unpredictable bowel movements.
Mr Hodge said he became "like a GPS" in knowing where all the closest public toilets were around town as panic would often consume him.
He's now using a daily probiotic from Qiara which he said "calmed" his gut symptoms and anxiety, though he still needs to keep the cheese to an absolute minimum.
A recent 6-month study from University of Melbourne found only 75 per cent of study participants were able to reduce or manage IBS symptoms through a low FODMAP diet (which restricts trigger foods like onions, garlic, apples, milk and wheat).
But the study also found psychological traits like "gut-specific anxiety, personal control and perceptions of illness" might also play a role in symptoms, said Associate Professor Jessica Biesiekierski.
She explained in IBS, communication between the gut and the brain can become "oversensitive to normal signals", which can cause symptoms of IBS.
"Stress can make it worse. Understanding this helps guide treatments that can calm these signals and improve symptoms," Professor Biesiekierski said.
The research team is now launching a world-first international clinical trial to see if a type of brain-training - exposure-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) - makes a difference.
"CBT helps people with IBS retrain how their brain responds to gut symptoms and feared foods, reducing anxiety and avoidance through gradual exposure," said Professor Biesiekierski.
"Unlike the low FODMAP diet, which works by avoiding trigger foods, CBT can help patients reduce fear and avoidance by gradually reintroducing those same foods."
The trial will be a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and Karolinska Institute.
Around 200 participants will take part in 12 weeks of treatment entirely online from their own homes.
Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) affects around one in five people, according to the government's Health Direct website, but scientists now believe the mind has a lot to do with it.
Shane Hodge, a former connoiseur of cheese and chocolate milkshakes, has been living with debilitating IBS symptoms for seven years since being hospitalised for food poisoning.
He agrees with the new research from the University of Melbourne, and said stress, paranoia and anxiety make his IBS worse.
"You're stressed and embarrassed about 'what if you poo your pants'? ... my life was a misery," the 66-year-old said.
"Your head is linked to your tummy and backside, and causing great disruption in the force ...once you've had a few bad episodes of that fear, it really stuffs up your life."
Read more from The Senior:
IBS is a chronic and often debilitating condition, with symptoms including abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and unpredictable bowel movements.
Mr Hodge said he became "like a GPS" in knowing where all the closest public toilets were around town as panic would often consume him.
He's now using a daily probiotic from Qiara which he said "calmed" his gut symptoms and anxiety, though he still needs to keep the cheese to an absolute minimum.
A recent 6-month study from University of Melbourne found only 75 per cent of study participants were able to reduce or manage IBS symptoms through a low FODMAP diet (which restricts trigger foods like onions, garlic, apples, milk and wheat).
But the study also found psychological traits like "gut-specific anxiety, personal control and perceptions of illness" might also play a role in symptoms, said Associate Professor Jessica Biesiekierski.
She explained in IBS, communication between the gut and the brain can become "oversensitive to normal signals", which can cause symptoms of IBS.
"Stress can make it worse. Understanding this helps guide treatments that can calm these signals and improve symptoms," Professor Biesiekierski said.
The research team is now launching a world-first international clinical trial to see if a type of brain-training - exposure-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) - makes a difference.
"CBT helps people with IBS retrain how their brain responds to gut symptoms and feared foods, reducing anxiety and avoidance through gradual exposure," said Professor Biesiekierski.
"Unlike the low FODMAP diet, which works by avoiding trigger foods, CBT can help patients reduce fear and avoidance by gradually reintroducing those same foods."
The trial will be a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and Karolinska Institute.
Around 200 participants will take part in 12 weeks of treatment entirely online from their own homes.
Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.
