Patients with irritable bowel syndrome often experience abdominal pain or cramps, excess gas or bloating and visible abdominal distension. Many drug therapies cause troubling side effects of their own, including nausea, insomnia, palpitations and decreased appetite.
"For the millions of patients who suffer from IBS, effective treatment options have been very scarce," said Dr. Mark Pimentel, a lead author of the study and director of Cedars-Sinai's Gastrointestinal Motility Program.
Pimentel and the other researchers analyzed common treatments for IBS.
For diarrhea forms of the condition, they evaluated tricyclic antidepressants; alosetron, a drug that slows movement of stool in the gut; and rifaximin, an antibiotic that stays in the gut and is currently FDA-approved to treat traveler's diarrhea and hepatic encephalopathy.
For constipation forms of IBS, the researchers examined antidepressants known as serotonin reuptake inhibitors and lubiprostone, a drug that promotes gut secretion.
The research found striking differences:
- For every 2.3 patients who benefited from tricyclic antidepressants, one suffered harmful side effects and had to stop taking the medication.
- For every 2.6 patients helped by alosetron, one had to halt the drug.
- By contrast, for every 846 patients aided by rifaximin, one had to discontinue the medication.
- Lubiprostone and serotonin reuptake inhibitors demonstrated a complete lack of "harm" to IBS patients with constipation, as defined by the study.
"This underscores the need for us to continue to monitor new therapies for this disease," Pimentel added. "While it is important to see benefit with drugs, harm is something we do not often assess well."