Irritable Bowel Syndrome Clinical Trials

Many veterans with Gulf War Illness developed chronic gastrointestinal symptoms during their deployment to the Persian Gulf. The pathophysiologic mechanisms of these chronic gastrointestinal symptoms are not well understood but cause significant morbidity in veterans. Our proposed studies will provide an innovative and novel treatment trial for chronic gastrointestinal symptoms in veterans with Gulf War Illness that were deployed into war zones. Given that there are currently no specific treatments for these disorders, and that current symptomatic approaches are far from ideal, proof of principle of our trial would be an extremely important advance as it would not only have a beneficial impact on the health of many thousands of our veterans, but also it would substantially reduce the many negative economic effects of this ailment on the VA Health Care System. Read Less

Gastrointestinal (GI) infection with Campylobacter causes inflammation in the bowel and can change bacteria in the gut. Certain individuals with Campylobacter infection are also known to develop chronic bowel problems such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The researchers are doing this study to understand if changes in gut bacteria and gut mucosal lining during an acute infection can help identify individuals who might be at risk for developing problems in the future. Read Less

This study relies on the use of a smartphone application (SOMA) that the investigators developed for tracking daily mood, pain, and activity status in acute pain, chronic pain, and healthy controls over four months.The primary goal of the study is to use fluctuations in daily self-reported symptoms to identify computational predictors of acute-chronic pain transition, pain recovery, and/or chronic pain maintenance or flareups. The general study will include anyone with current acute or chronic pain, while a smaller sub-study will use a subset of patients from the chronic pain group who have been diagnosed with chronic low back pain, failed back surgery syndrome, or fibromyalgia. These sub-study participants will first take part in one in-person EEG testing session while completing simple interoception and reinforcement learning tasks and then begin daily use of the SOMA app. Electrophysiologic and behavioral data from the EEG testing session will be used to determine predictors of treatment response in the sub-study. Read Less

Diet and lifestyle changes are the recommended first line treatments for symptom relief in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Currently the only diet that is widely recommended and for which there is good evidence of efficacy in IBS is one low in fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (low-FODMAP). While effective, the Low-FODMAP diet is burdensome and costly to patients and in clinical practice adherence to FODMAP restriction is less than optimal. Further, patients who respond to a FODMAP restriction often are reluctant to reintroduce more FODMAPs into their diet, which may deprive them of foods, particularly fruits and vegetables with important health benefits. Therefore, there is a need for other dietary interventions for IBS that are less burdensome to patients. This clinical trial assesses the efficacy of two dietary interventions. Read Less

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the most common cause of recurrent abdominal pain in children. IBS is a functional gastrointestinal disorder that is linked to motor and sensory physiology, as well as the central nervous system, that presents as abdominal pain with abnormal defecation patterns. This discomfort leads to emotional stress, decreased quality of life, and anxiety. The study proposes that yoga and mindfulness will decrease anxiety and increase quality of life for patients with IBS. The aim of this study is to measure the impact of a brief, at-home, 6-week twice per week Standardized Yoga & Meditation Program for Stress Reduction program on anxiety, IBS symptoms, and quality of life in children ages 12-21 diagnosed with IBS. Read Less

This is a prospective, double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled pilot study evaluating the efficacy of percutaneous electrical nerve field stimulation for the treatment of adult patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Read Less

The prevalence of migraine is higher in female patients with various intestinal diseases. An explanation could be that migraine is caused by a leaky gut, defined by increased intestinal permeability that permits particles to pass through the gastrointestinal wall. Probiotics, may be able to improve intestinal barrier function. OBJECTIVE: To test whether probiotics, as adjucnt therapy, can reduce incidence and severity of migraine attacks by reducing intestinal permeability. Read Less