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Do you experience gas and bloating? Loose stool or constipation? Abdominal discomfort? Fatigue? You quite possibly may be one of the many millions of Americans that suffer from an all-too-common disorder called small intestine bacterial over-growth-- also referred to as SIBO (pronounced see-bow). This condition is the culprit behind a huge amount of digestive disorders. Actually, SIBO is associated with:
SIBO's issues do not stop with digestive issues. It also rears its ugly head in as many as 44 percent of diabetics. And it's estimated that about 54 percent of those with hypothyroidism, up to 20 percent of those with fibromyalgia and up to 41 percent of individuals with obesity have SIBO. SIBO is an often-overlooked source of IBS in addition to a range of other digestive and systemic issues.
SIBO symptoms may consist of:
To understand SIBO anatomically, keep in mind that the small intestine is the section of your digestive tract that connects your stomach to the colon. It's a critical area because it's where our bodies absorb nutrients from the foods we consume.
Similar to the other areas of the digestive tract (including even the mouth) your small intestine has bacteria-- although less than you'll find in the colon. Scientists and doctors refer to these healthy and expected bacteria as commensal or native bacteria. SIBO occurs when either these native bacteria or non-native bacteria overgrow in your small intestine, especially in regions which usually have fairly low levels of bacteria. When this occurs the fermentation of food causes gas, bloating, and pain. Inflammation begins and your body becomes less effective at absorbing needed nutrients from your food. Many SIBO sufferers experience fatigue, brain fog, muscle, and joint pain as a result.
A slow-moving small intestine could be a SIBO indicator. Individuals develop small intestine bacterial overgrowth for a number of reasons. When things are functioning properly, the nerves and muscles in your digestive tract contract and re-ax rhythmically moving food along. Known as peristalsis, the process moves food through the stomach to the small intestine, then through the colon, and finally out the rectum.
There are also contractions that happen between meals roughly every1.5 to 2 hours. This routine function sweeps bacteria of the small intestine along as well and prevents bacteria overgrowth. However when you have a slow small intestine, this process does not work quite too, and research has found that people that have these types of small intestine motility issues-- as is the case with many with IBS-- are at greater risk for SIBO. As I stated previously, a huge percentage of IBS sufferers (as many as 78percent) also have small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Some experts theorize that SIBO forms in so many individuals with IBS as the result of digestive tract infections. This might originally be a viral, parasitic, bacterial, or worm driven infection resulting in the release of a toxin that damages the cells of the gut that are associated with muscle contraction. With the muscles in your small intestine not able to expand and contract properly the stage would be set for bacteria to start to overgrow.
Slow small intestines are not the only thing that can put you at a higher risk for SIBO. Individuals who have shorter bowels as the result of surgery or who just have bowels that don't function well are at an increased risk. Also, if you have any of a number of conditions that can infect your intestinal muscles including Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, hypothyroidism or scleroderma your risk is greater. And of course, people with digestive diseases including diverticulitis, Crohn's disease, celiac disease, malabsorption, and acid reflux are at greater risk. Nevertheless, the greatest risk factor is either having been on repeated rounds of gut flora altering antibiotics or steroids. Or having had a gut bug damaging chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
At the Stengler Center For Integrative Medicine we utilize state of the art breath testing to detect SIBO. There are three kinds of SIBO, and the innovative test we use tests for all three forms. Many SIBO tests only measure two forms of gases associated with SIBO.
