Do you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? An Open Day
for patients and their families will help unravel the mysteries of IBS,
a profoundly disabling disorder that affects 15-20% of the
population. The Open Day takes place on Saturday, 27 May, at the
Main Lecture Theatre, Cork University Hospital (CUH) to celebrate World
Digestive Health Day. It will be chaired by Professor Eamonn
Quigley, Professor of Medicine and Human Physiology at University
College Cork (UCC) and Consultant Gastroenterologist at CUH.
Professor Quigley, who was recently elected President of the World
Gastroenterology Organisation, will provide an update on IBS research
and clinical trials at UCC's Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC),
Speakers include Professor Ted Dinan, Professor of Psychiatry at UCC
and CUH, who will discuss his research on communication pattern between
the brain and the gut in IBS sufferers. Dr Liam O'Mahony, a
Scientist at the APC, will discuss the involvement of the immune system
in IBS. Shirley Beattie a Senior Dietician at CUH will talk about how
food can affect this condition and Phil Hahnel, Clinical research Nurse
for Alimentary Health, will explain the process of clinical trials.
Representative from the Irish Society for Colitis and Crohn's disease,
Elizabeth Lattimore and Mary Dunphy will communicate the benefits of a
patient support network.
The main feature of IBS is abdominal pain and discomfort, associated
with alterations in bowel pattern, which can be either diarrhoea or
constipation but the majority of patients alternate between one and the
other. About one in three cases occur following a
gastrointestinal infection. For some patients, the trigger is a
stressful life event and undoubtedly, for many sufferers, whilst stress
may not be the cause of the disorder, it contributes to the chronicity
of symptoms.
Because our understanding of the condition is so poor, therapy is often
ineffective. No new therapies for treating the disorder have been
licensed in Ireland in recent years. One of the more promising
lines of therapy is the use of probiotics. Professor
Quigley and his colleagues within the APC have shown that a
bifidobacteria is effective in treating all of the symptoms in a
significant number of patients in a well-designed controlled study in
which some patients were treated with placebo and others with the UCC
bifidobacteria strain. The study clearly demonstrated the
benefits of the latter.
The event is hosted by the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, a
UCC/Teagasc Research Centre focusing on gastrointestinal health and
development of therapies for debilitating disorders such as Crohn's
disease, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and food poisoning.
(http://apc.ucc.ie)
The Open Day takes place from 2.30-4.30pm on Saturday 27th May 2006 at
the Main Lecture Theatre at Cork University Hospital. Admission
is free and all are welcome.
228MMcS
« Back to 2006 Press Releases