Antibiotic may treat irritable bowel syndrome

An Annal's of Internal Medicine study showed that 87 sufferers of irritable bowel who received the antibiotic Rifaximin helped overall symptoms for about 10 weeks. The researchers believe that the antibiotic targets excess bacteria in the gut.

Bonnie - this is scary. With all the talk about reducing the amount of antibitoics prescribed because of pathogens that are now resistant, we get this? If this is used as a therapy for irritable bowel, won't the bacteria that it supposedly targets become resistant as well? Not to mention the often devastating side effects antibiotics have, as well as critical nutrient depletion, this sounds like a drug company trying to prescribe off label to tap into the huge market of those with irritable bowel.

There is a much safer and cheaper alternative...Probiotics! The first thing I prescribe when I think a client has an imbalance in gut bacteria is a probiotic. There must be a equal balance of good and bad gut bacteria, and more often than not, the bad wins out. Ask us about well-researched probitoic strains that would be right for your situation.