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An antibiotic called rifaximin has shown hope in treating irritable gut syndrome ( IBS ) in two great clinical trials by targeting bacterium in the gut , research worker found .
Four workweek after the rootage a two - week - long treatment with the drug , 41 percent of people who admit it said they had relief from theirIBS symptomsincluding bloating , abdominal pain sensation and at large and washy stools . Of those who call for the placebo , 32 percent cover relief , the cogitation showed .
With " the other medications studied in the past tense , you have to quell on them , otherwise one hebdomad after barricade , you ’re back the manner you were , " say study researcher Dr. Mark Pimentel , film director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Program and Laboratory at Cedars - Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles . But with rifaximin , " you treat it , it ’s kind of a one - and - done , for at least a period of time . "
Rifaximin is presently approved by the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) to treat traveller ’s diarrhoea and hepatic brain disorder , a condition that result when the liver is ineffectual to remove toxic substances from the blood . The FDA will in all probability make a decision about approve rifaximin to treat IBS within the next two to three month , Pimentel say .
The new studies will be write tomorrow ( Jan. 6 ) in the New England Journal of Medicine . Salix Pharmaceuticals , Inc. , the manufacturer of rifaximin , provided funding for the study . Pimentel is a consultant to Salix , Inc. , and serve well on its scientific advisory plug-in .
find relief
IBS is one of the most common disorders in the United States , according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases . As many as one in five Americans has the condition , which is qualify by severe cramps , bloating , stultification , diarrhea and abdominal nuisance .
IBS can be due to excessive amounts ofbacteria in the pocket-sized gut , Pimentel said . Current medications for IBS may relieve symptoms , but to allow for lasting backup from the condition , a drug has to kill the gut bacteria that make it .
Pimentel and his colleagues test rifaximin in two trial with more than 600 patient in each .
The masses in the run all had IBS with mild to moderate diarrhea and bloating . Some were assigned to take 550 mg of rifaximin three time a week for two weeks , andothers were assigned a placebo .
Pimentel said affected role see relief even eight workweek after they stopped taking the drug , whereas other IBS drug only leave alleviation if the patient is presently taking the drug .
Rifaximin versus other drugs
Rifaximin is dissimilar from other antibiotic drug one might take for a urinary piece of land infection or a fistula contagion , Pimentel said . He articulate it less likely to createantibiotic resistancebecause 99 percent of it passes out of the body in the faeces , rather than being absorbed into other areas of the body outside the gut .
citizenry who took the drug to treat IBS also did n’t have any more or less side effects than people who took the placebo , Pimentel said .
Pass it on : The antibiotic rifaximin could soon be approved for habit in treating irritable bowel syndrome .
