Using dietary treatment, over 70% of patients reduced IBS symptoms: Study

New Delhi, Apr 21:  In a new study a group of researchers found that dietary treatment is more effective than medications in treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and by doing so, more than seven out of 10 (70 percent) patients had significantly reduced symptoms.

In the study, published in the journal The Lancet Gastroenterology; Hepatology, the researchers compared three treatments -- two dietary and one based on the use of medications.

IBS is a common diagnosis that causes abdominal pain, gas, abdominal bloating, diarrhoea, and constipation, in various combinations and with varying degrees of severity.

According to Sanna Nybacka, researcher and dietician at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, with this study, "we can show that diet plays a central role in the treatment of IBS", however, she noted that there are several alternative treatments that are useful.

The first group was advised to follow a traditional IBS dietary advice, which focused on eating behaviour combined with low intake of fermentable carbohydrates called FODMAPs.