Cheech said:Anyone know of a natural remedy for IBS?
Yes, here's a web page about experimental use of certain
worms in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and
colitis:
http://www.vh.org/adult/patient/internalmedicine/faq/inflammatorybowel.html
I saw a report of this on TV in which a study participant
was interviewed. The results in her case seemed nothing
short of miraculous.
This abstract from an experiment on mice describes
a possible mechanism:
Infect Immun 2002 Nov;70(11):5931-7
Intestinal nematode infection ameliorates experimental
colitis in mice.
Khan WI, Blennerhasset PA, Varghese AK, Chowdhury
SK, Omsted P, Deng Y, Collins SM.
Intestinal Disease Research Program, McMaster
University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Epidemiological studies suggest that inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD) is common in developed
countries and rare in countries where intestinal
nematode infections are common. T cells are
critical in many immune responses, including those
associated with IBD and nematode infection.
Among the distinct T helper (Th) cell subsets,
Th1-type immune response is predominantly
associated with Crohn's disease, while many
nematode infections generate a strong Th2
response. The reciprocal cross regulation between
Th1 and Th2 cells suggests that generation of
a Th2 response by nematodes could prevent or
reduce the effects of Th1-mediated diseases. In
the present study, we investigated the effect of
polarizing the immune response toward the Th2
type, using intestinal nematode infection, on
subsequent experimental colitis. Mice were infected
with the intestinal nematode Trichinella spiralis
and allowed to recover before colitis was induced
with dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid. The mice were
sacrificed postcolitis to assess colonic damage
macroscopically, histologically, and by myeloperoxidase
(MPO) activity and Th cytokines. Prior
nematode infection reduced the severity of colitis
both macroscopically and histologically together
with a decreased mortality and was correlated
with a down-regulation of MPO activity, Th1-type
cytokine expression in colonic tissue, and
emergence of a Th2-type immune response. These
results indicate a protective role of nematode
infection in Th1 cell-driven inflammation and
prompt consideration of a novel therapeutic
strategy in IBD based on immunological distraction.