Doc Gurley: Well Worth It - November
Estimates are that Irritable Bowel Syndrome affects as many as 1 in 5 Americans. So just what were these older interventions? Fiber (but not any old kind - specifically ispaghula husk, also known as psyllium, a soluble fiber that is also effective at lowering cholesterol), anti-spasmodic agents, and peppermint oil.
How Big A Difference Does This Make? The most impressive figures were the fact that the number of people who needed to take this medicine to result in a benefit to one of them (an epidemiologist concept called the Number Needed To Treat or NNT) was as low as 11 for fiber, 5 for anti-spasmodic agents (with hyoscine - a product of cork wood tree - the most effective) and 2.5 for peppermint oil. These agents have been around for a long, long time and, besides being cheap, are generally considered safe. They are available over-the-counter too.
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