Acupuncture is an effective therapy for irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is functional disorder of digestive system, commonly including abdominal cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation. The condition often begins when a person is between 20-30 years of age. Women are more likely to develop IBS and often suffer more symptoms during their periods. Around 20% of people in the UK are affected by IBS. It is the most common functional digestive condition seen by GPs. Because it is typically a chronic and recurrent disorder the cost in terms of social, economic and health care utilization is substantial. 

The cause of IBS is unclear. Approximately 50% people with IBS can relate the start of symptoms to the stressful event. IBS symptoms tend to get worse during time of stress or anxiety. It is believed that hypersensitivity of sensory nerve in gut, infection in gut and intolerance of certain foods play important roles in the IBS. Reducing stress and anxiety, regular exercise, healthy diet and lifestyle tend to relieve IBS symptoms. Medications are necessary for some people with IBS to alleviate the symptoms; however, sometimes treatments are unsatisfactory.

Acupuncture is used to treat IBS in many countries including UK and its clinical efficacy of relieving symptoms in IBS was investigated. Recently an open pragmatic randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out by researchers in the Department of Health Science, University of York, UK. 233 patients with IBS, with average duration of 13 years were recruited and divided into two groups. 116 patients with IBS were given 10 weekly individualized acupuncture sessions, while 117 patients without acupuncture treatment as control group. The study showed that there was a significant reduction in IBS symptom severity score in patients within acupuncture group compared with control group by the end of treatment. The benefits of acupuncture lasted for further 9 months when the follow up tests were carried out at 6, 9 and 12 months. This study provides strong evidence suggesting acupuncture is very effective in treating IBS.

Reference:

H Macpherson et al., (2012) BMC Gastroenterology. 12:150.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23095376