Irritable Bowel Syndrome (I.B.S.) is the most common digestive disorder, affecting between 25 and 55 million people in the USA and approximately 17% of the UK population. IBS is a part of a spectrum of diseases known as Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders and may be associated with abdominal pain, bloating, excess mucus or blood in the stool, chronic constipation and/or diarrhoea, non-cardiac chest pain, headaches and migraine, dyspepsia, joint pain, eczema and other skin problems. Conventional treatments generally use antispasmodics and laxatives, which may be effective in the short term, but often are less so in the long term and can cause adverse side effects.

IBS maybe be brought on by a number of co-factors: extreme stress, such as intense pressure at school or work, a divorce, a death of a loved one; chronic low grade infections by bacterium or parasites that deregulate the environment of the large intestine or inadequate dietary intake.

In IBS the integrity of the gut lining has become impaired (Leaky Gut Syndrome), whereby abnormally large spaces between the cells of the gut allow toxic material into the bloodstream, which under healthier circumstances would remain within the intestine and be eliminated. This toxic material may include bacteria, fungi, parasites and their toxins, undigested protein, fat and waste. Once absorbed into the bloodstream these minute particles travel around the body, causing inflammation and pain wherever they deposit themselves: gut, sinuses, joints, head, or skin. Leaky gut syndrome also impairs the function of lymph glands embedded in the intestinal wall, weakening the immune system and leading to a general deterioration of health.

Chinese Herbal Medicine has been used for over two thousand years and has been shown to be efficacious for the treatment of gastro-intestinal disorders. Although IBS is a relatively modern syndrome it has been found to respond positively to the treatment with Chinese herbs (see the Latest research section). The herbs are well tolerated and cause minimal side effects.

Homotoxicology (Complex Homeopathy) is particularly effective in the treatment of IBS by targeting directly low grade (or sub-clinical) infections that are primary causative factors, as well as regulating the general environment of the gut. At The Garden Clinic we are able to test for over 150 different infectious pathogens that have been shown to contribute to IBS.