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Alternative Therapies May Help to Treat Stomach and Gastrointestinal Problems

Growing numbers of people with gastrointestinal disorders are turning toward relaxation therapies such as biofeedback and other alternative remedies to treat their conditions, according to two new studies presented this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in New York.And, the studies show, many people find these alternative treatments make a difference.

In one study, a biofeedback technique developed by NASA as a therapy for motion sickness among astronauts was found to also be effective for a common civilian problem -- constipation. Biofeedback is a mind-body technique where participants can see and realize their body's responses to stimuli such as pain. Its proponents believe that this helps people modify their body's responses to those stimuli.

Study participants took part in as many as 11 biofeedback sessions. After three specific biofeedback sessions, study participants rated their symptoms including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and bloating as severe, moderate, mild or nonexistent. The researchers also measured activity in the stomach using a device called an electrogastrogram.

After four biofeedback sessions, study participants said that their symptoms improved and improvements were even greater after the eighth session, report researchers led by Hani M.K. Rashed, MD, PhD, of the University of Tennessee in Memphis.

In another study, researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center and George Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C., found that a third of 150 men and women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an umbrella term which covers two common bowel diseases called Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, had used alternative therapies. Of these, almost all were also using conventional medications to treat their condition.

Patients reported using fish oil, dietary changes, nutritional supplements, herbs, exercise, massage, yoga, meditation, psychotherapy, biofeedback, and acupuncture. Many people in the study reported feeling better after taking the alternative remedy of their choice, lead researcher Marie Borum, MD, MPH, an associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University, tells WebMD.

"So many patients with IBD are using a variety of alternative therapies," she says. "We were also impressed how frequently they were using things and not telling their physicians, [and] until doctors are aware of what people use, they will not be able to treat patients as effectively.

"Patients have to tell their physician what they are doing outside of what the doctor is prescribing and doctors must also ask patients," Borum tells WebMD.

Gilbert Ross, MD, medical director of the American Council on Science and Health in New York City, emphasizes the need for a doctor's care. "IBD can be a very uncomfortable and debilitating condition," he says. "These patients are known to be at higher risk for colon cancer, and as such they should be under the care of a competent physician -- preferably a gastroenterologist."

Herbal remedies and supplements are not regulated, he tells WebMD. "If they were known to be effective for any condition, they would be a federal Food and Drug Administration-approved pharmaceutical -- not a supplement," Ross says.

Ross adds that anyone who is taking a supplement or herbal remedy should inform their doctor. "No one should take [supplements] with an aim toward treating IBD without also being under the care of a physician," he says.

Albert B. Knapp, MD, a gastroenterologist in private practice in New York City and an assistant professor of medicine and gastroenterology at the New York University School of Medicine, says that some alternative therapies -- including biofeedback and acupuncture -- may be helpful as adjunct therapies for people with gastrointestinal disorders.

But "if we are dealing with IBD, I don't think using fish oils alone is helpful. You still need a conventional treatment, but I have no problem using fish oil or another supplement as an adjunct to standard therapy," he says, noting that taking too much fish oil can result in the accumulation of fatty deposits in the liver. This condition may cause nausea, vomiting, weakness, and fatigue -- some of the very symptoms that people with IBD may be taking it to cure.

"Automatically, tell your doctor whatever you are taking because herbal remedies and nutritional supplements do have side effects," Knapp says.

Excerpt from www.altmedicine.com