Question for all ibsers of any type. Does anyone feel they suffer less from colds and any other small infections ex cuts/bruises or anything similar due to the greater or increased immunity/inflamation in the gi tract? Some studies indicate that there is greater or increased immunity in the gi tract of ibsers. Wondering if this increased immunity generally helps to fight off other infections in the body.
Better immunity in ibsers?
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Interesting thought. I can't remember the last time I got cold/flu - must be about 10 years ago *runs off to touch wood quick sticks*I have always wondered if it's because I smoke - maybe the smoke kills the germs
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Hope to quit next week so I'll see what happens.I did get c-diff on top of the IBS and have no idea how I got it. Maybe IBS just stops you getting infections from the waist upwards
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Actually since I've gotten ibs I have gotten sick a little bit more. Whenever I get sick It's always unexplained and nobody else seems to get from me or give it to me. I don't really think ibs makes me get sick more or less I just think it's a coincidence.
Hanna,This has come up here before, and as you can see, its variable among diff people. I don't get colds or the flu myself, but I haven't since I was a kid.When they talk of increased immune cell activation along the intestinal wall(home to abt 70% of the body's total immune sys cells), its referring to inc'd mast & EC cells.It leads to the low-grade submucosl inflammation found in IBS...There are diff theories, conflicting studies as to how this comes about. Some believe it has to do with seratonin and a malfunctining brain-gut-immune axis...others, like myself, believe it has to do with bacterial dysbiosis...Low innate beneficial bacteria(which all in one way or another help keep inflammatino in check.)There's also another theory which I truly hope is very wrong, but probably does apply to some IBSrs. Its that the initial inflammation is triggered by an infection, this triggers inflamation, and for some reason, us blamed on genetics, the inflammation continues even though the initial infection has been cleared up...That's just too final for me. And in my case, I've gotten back to 98% normal taking the psyllium, GSE, & probiotics--so it can't be imm sys cells which can't down-regulate due to a genetic flaw, right?The answers will come some day...Fingers are crossed!That's my take on the whole thing anyways. Talissaps, there was a USA Today article that said "happy people get fewer colds..."________________________________________
pss...I've also taken probiotics since becoming IBS sick..."People who take a daily dose of probiotics or so-called “friendly bacteria†are less likely to be off work with common illnesses, such as colds and gastroenteritis, than those who don’t. A Swedish study published in the journal Environmental Health shows that workers who took a daily dose of the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri were 2.5 times less likely to take sick leave than workers who took a placebo. A group of 181 workers at a Tetra Pak factory in Lund, Sweden were randomly assigned to receive a drink with or without L. reuteri, every day for a period of 80 days. Twenty-three of the 87 workers in the group that took a placebo reported taking sick days during the 80-day-long study. In contrast, only 10 of the 94 workers that took L. reuteri reported taking any sick days during the study. The effect of L. reuteri was most significant in shift workers. Many food and supplement manufacturers promote yogurt and other probiotic products as aiding the bacteria and yeast that naturally reside in the intestinal tract to improve digestion and combat pathogens"http://www.life.ca/nl/107/bacteria.htmlHere's the original study~http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...l=pubmed_docsum_________________________________
Talissa.In one of your posts not too long ago you had given a list of some of the natural residents of the gi tract and the functions of each one. I am too lazy to look it up, can you post it again. Another question if you can answer this which part of the gi tract are these specific bacteria found in, are they liberally lined all over the gi tract or some bacteria live in the s/i and some in the large or are they all mixed throughout the tract. If lets say the L. reuteri is only found in the colon and not the s/i and if L. reuteri is short in supply in the colon what specific symptoms would this shortage exhibit. Same question for any other natural resident bacteria. Lets say the bouledari (sp) is a resident of the s/i but if its in short numbers in the s/i what specific symptoms would this shortage exhibit. Has any research has been done along these lines?, I'm sure it has but I just don't visit the board on a daily basis and also don't read all the posts so have tons of questions however and some things may already have been discussed before, sorry if this is repetitive. I only know about Candida albacans if in excess can cause a myraid of problems. What are the other pathogen names which in excess cause gi problems. I'm so tired today from the hectic day and not even sure if I'm asking the questions in a logical way.
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On the subject of colds, flu, virus etc and immunity. Before I had ibs I used to catch colds about 3 times a year. Since ibs started now it's about once every 3 or 4 years before I come down with a bad flu. Just wondered if the increased immunity/inflamation of the gi was doing something to the cold virus also and we are better able to fight off or avoid catching it most of the time. Or as you said that probiotics help with immunity and we ibsers take more probiotics than others. So more power to probiotics.
I'm not sure what it means for immunity to be "increased".It is often the case that the symptoms of an infection are due to the immune system's overaggressiveness. So increased immunity would end up making a person very ill all the time because the body is continually fighting pathogens to prevent infections from starting.It might be better to envision the immune system in one of three states, off, on and in reverse where reverse means an automimmune condtion.
I think people get fewer colds as they get older because immunity developed over time. That's children are constantly coming down with something. They're immune systems are untrained and inexperienced.quoteoes anyone feel they suffer less from colds
Immunity in terms of fighting an infection appears to play a minor role at best in IBS. Even in conditions where the immune system is directly involved, such as in Crohn's, it is probably driving haphhazardly but in a very specific and limited way. The rest of the system is largely intact and functionally works the same as if Crohn's were not present.
I did, but have since found another link which is even better...The following are microorganisms considered to be human Probiotics:Great info....I know what you mean, when I first got "this" and began researching, I read abt candida, & it pretty much fit me to a T...then I dug deeper & found that many normally commensal organisms found in the gut can cause GI problems if allowed to overgrow due to lowered innate probiotics in the gut...I recently found this list of bacteria that can cause "superinfection" like C Difficile. They are all bacteria normally found in the GI tract but if overgrown due to antibiotics(in this case, but many factors can cause their overgrowth) they can cause GI upset to differing degrees. It seems to depend on the amount of over-colonization & how low the probiotics are in the gut, along the wall...For example someone w/ a low-grade infection would have milder symptoms than someone who had a huge overgrowth...and the status of individual immune systems also probably comes into play..."Superinfection related to certain antibiotics may occur as often as 30% of the time but most often is never related back to the offending antibiotic. Some antibiotics cause more superinfection than others. Superinfection frequently occurs when the normal flora (primarily gram positive anaerobes) are suppressed and supplanted by pathogenic flora. Superinfection potential is related to two primary features of an antibiotic: 1) Does active antibiotic get to the site of the normal flora (the gastrointestinal tract is of primary concern) AND 2) When the antibiotic gets to the site of the normal flora (eg. GI tract) does it have antimicrobial activity against the normal flora. Antibiotic-induced diarrhea is a marker of disruption of the normal flora (dysbiosis) and superinfection potential. An example of an antibiotic with low superinfection potential is gentamicin. An example of and antibiotic with high superinfection potential is clindamycin (eg. C. diff. colitis is a superinfection). Unfortunately, superinfection is not limited to colitis or vaginitis...." SUPERINFECTION BUGSAcinetobacter baumanii (formerly A.calcoaceticus var. anitratus)Acinetobacter johnsonii (formerly A. calcoaceticus var. lwoffii)Candida albicansCitrobacter freundiiEnterobacter aerogenesEnterobacter cloacaeEnterococccus faecalisEscherichia coliHemophilus influenzaeIndole(+)Proteus (e.g. Proteus vulgaris)Klebsiella pneumoniaeMorganella morganiiProteus mirabilisProvidencia stuartiiPseudomonas aeruginosaSerratia marcescensStaphylococcus aureus (methicillin-resistant) Staphylococcus aureus (methicillin-susceptible) For Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (formerly Xanthomonas)Streptococcus pneumoniae http://www.surgery.missouri.edu/tops/drugchoi1.html
These bugs have also mimiced IBS, I have links for almost all these bugs mimicking IBS incl'g the above, but but there are som many, it's not condensed & I've got to go soon~D fragilisB Hominislow-grade Campylobactor infectionlow-grade Giardia infectionAnd one more thing, "IBS has been shown in prospective studies to arise following gastroenteritis and antibiotic therapy, and the bacterial flora of the colon in IBS is unstable"http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:S8bDr...+unstable&hl=en"It has been known for over 20 years now that the faecal microbial flora is abnormal in IBS patients. The numbers of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria are always reduced and there is often overgrowth of facultative anaerobes such as e. coli, streptococci, Proteus or Klebsiella. (BMJ, 1999;318:565-6, Br J Nutr, 2002, 88 Suppl 1:67-72). "http://www.silsoe.cranfield.ac.uk/dasi/res...markers_ibs.htm
Hi Gina, From what I've read it's safe to take 500 mg/day of L-lysine, and its best to take it w/ vit C on an empty stomach. And taking more than 1 g L-lysine daily, regularly, can cause an amino acid imbalance...from what I've read...Hi Wotsupdoc...I think I'm gonna like having you around!!
Because gut microflora is an integral component of the gut mucosal immune system, it pretty much couldn't be more related...And as to the last 2 parts of the sentence, spoken by J.O. Hunter, MD, he's got a da*n good point...Am J Gastroenterol. 2002 Jan"OBJECTIVES: Data suggest that subjects with irritable bowel syndrome are more likely to report a recent course of antibiotics. This study tests the hypothesis that a course of antibiotics is a risk factor for an increase in the number of functional bowel complaints over a 4-month period in a general population sample. ...CONCLUSIONS: Functional bowel symptoms come and go, but subjects who are given a course of antibiotics are more than three times as likely to report more bowel symptoms 4 months later than controls.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...pubmed_AbstractWorld J Gastroenterol. 2004 Jun "AIM: It has been noticed that gastroenteritis or dysentery plays a role in pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and antibiotics can increase functional abdominal symptoms, both of which may be partly due to intestinal flora disorders. This study was to determine the change of gut flora of IBS, a cluster of abdominal symptoms. ...RESULTS: In IBS patients, the number of fecal Bifidobacterium was significantly decreased and that of Enterobacteriaceae was significantly increased compared with that in healthy controls (both P<0.05).The mean microbial colonization resistance (CR) of the bowel in IBS patients was smaller than 1, making a significant difference compared with that in control which was more than 1 (P<0.01)."http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...l=pubmed_docsumMedscape~..."patients were monitored only during the period of antimicrobial administration.[33] Much antimicrobial-associated diarrhea occurs within a few weeks after these drugs are stopped.[34]"http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/406975_print(I included this because it further illustrates how easy it is for people to miss the connection btn taking the antibiotics & their GI symptoms...)FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 2005 Feb "The present study suggests that instability of intestinal microbiota may be involved in IBS. However, further studies are needed to associate the instability with specific IBS symptoms or with specific bacterial groups and species."http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...7442&query_hl=3Am J Gastroenterol. 2005 Feb"OBJECTIVE: The gut microbiota may contribute to the onset and maintenance of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In this study, the microbiotas of patients suffering from IBS were compared with a control group devoid of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. ...CONCLUSIONS: With these real-time PCR assays, quantitative alterations in the GI microbiota of IBS patients were found." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...7495&query_hl=3
lol i love being awkward! the only time i've ever had antibiotics was last summer - rather a long time after my ibs started! and guess what?!? they made no difference what-so-ever, like everything else! or not that i noticed anyway...was only a week long.
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