DDW 2008 News—Why Does IBS Prefer Women?

This study, which examined the relationship of female sex hormones to IBS, used rats as subjects. Head researcher Dr. Ching-Liang Lu and his associates showed that the estrogen, not progesterone, acts as a sensitizer for the painful sensory stimuli in the digestive tracts of rats. They concluded that estrogen can act as a catalyst to induce hypersentivity to serotonin mediators that convey sensation in the gut. This may explain why IBS is more prevalent among females. (DDW Abstract S49, May 18, 2008, C. Lu, et al.)
2008-05-29 04:21:58