Ayurveda may help cure IBS

Ayurveda may help cure IBS - World News - Webindia123.com

Washington | January 25, 2006 5:00:00 PM IST

A systematic review of clinical studies has found that Indian, Chinese and Tibetan traditional herbal medicines may improve symptoms of abdominal pain, disturbed bowel movements, and/or bloating and distension caused by Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

Prof Jianping Liu, lead review author, said that researchers conducted 75 different randomised trials, and that some of the traditional medicines did improve the global symptoms of IBS.

"Many of the trials were small, so it is premature to recommend herbal medicines for routine use in IBS, but there is evidence that some of the medicines did improve the global symptoms of IBS," he said.

Medicines that showed promise included the Indian Ayurvedic formula of two herbs and the Chinese herbal medicine Tongxie Yaofang that showed a statistically significant effect on global symptoms. Chinese herbal formulation and individualised herbal formulation; STW 5; SW 5_ii; as well as Tibetan herbal formula Padma Lax were also found to be effective.

Though six small trials reported that combining conventional and herbal medicines produced greater benefits than using conventional therapies alone, the Authors have urged people to be cautious, and said that larger trials are needed to confirm this finding.

"There is a great need for further rigorously conducted trials that look to see whether it is possible to replicate these positive effects," Liu added.

The findings are published in the latest update of The Cochrane Library. (ANI)