Arising from: Kearney DJ and Brown-Chang J (2008) Nat Clin Pract Gastroenterol Hepatol 5: 624–636 [doi:10.1038/ncpgasthep1257]
In their review, Kearney and Brown-Chang have very importantly highlighted the use and possible effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies for IBS.1 Many of these CAM therapies, as discussed in their review, have been used for hundreds of years by people of different cultures around the world.
Many natural health products (NHP) like honey, olive, ginger, fig, fenugreek, dates, black cumin, saffron, etc. have been identified as beneficial for a number of conditions. There is special emphasis on diseases of gut with ginger,2,3,4,5 olive6 and black cumin7 having been shown to have significant gastrointestinal modulatory actions. Ginger, in particular, has been shown to have a laxative and an antidiarrheal effect, at differing concentrations, making it an ideal herb for possible use in the treatment of IBS.
I believe that more funding should be directed towards research into traditional systems of medicine, such as CAM therapies, as they have stood the test of time and with a minimal amount of effort and finances they could probably be brought into mainstream use and practice.
References
Kearney DJ and Brown-Chang J (2008) Complementary and alternative medicine for IBS in adults: mind-body interventions. Nat Clin Pract Gastroenterol Hepatol 5: 624–636
Ghayur MN and Gilani AH (2005) Pharmacological basis for the medicinal use of ginger in gastrointestinal disorders. Dig Dis Sci 50: 1889–1897
Ghayur MN and Gilani AH (2006) Species differences in the prokinetic effects of ginger. Int J food Sci Nutr 57: 65–73
Ghayur MN et al. (2007) Ginger facilitates cholinergic activity possibly due to blockade of muscarinic autoreceptors in rat stomach fundus. Pak J Pharm Sci 20: 231–235
Ghayur MN et al. (2008) Muscarinic, Ca++ antagonist and specific butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory activity of dried ginger extract might explain its use in dementia. J Pharm Pharmacol 60: 1375–1383
Gilani AH et al. (2006) The presence of cholinomimetic and calcium antagonist constituents explains the medicinal uses of olives in gastrointestinal disorders. Nutr Res 26: 277–283
Gilani AH et al. (2001) Bronchodilator, spasmolytic and calcium antagonist activities of Nigella sativa seeds (Kalonji): a traditional herbal product with multiple medicinal uses. J Pak Med Assoc 51: 115–120
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Ghayur, M. Traditional medical practices for modern day problems. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 6, E1 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep1352
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep1352