Dr. Wendi LeBrett

So with a condition like IBS, we think that the brain plays a really important role.

So when I tell my patients and I diagnose them with IBS, I think the belief out there is that, oh, you're just giving me this diagnosis of IBS because you don't know what's going on.

And

It's just a catch-all term.

But actually what we understand is that it's really due to signaling issues with the brain and the gut.

So there's miscommunication from the brain to the gut and the gut to the brain.

Yeah.

And it's, you know, to do with, you know, how your brain tells your gut you should move faster or you should move slower.

But then it's also how your gut signals back to the brain.

So something normal like food in the intestines, gas in the intestines, people with IBS, their gut tells their brain, oh, that hurts, that's painful, even though that's a normal sensation that most people live their lives without feeling bothered by.

Exactly.

So we we think that people with IBS have hypersensitivity.

So normal sensations become very painful or uncomfortable for them.

Yeah, so lactose intolerance is a little bit different from IBS because if you take lactate or avoid lactose, then you don't have the symptoms.

But certainly for IBS or sensitive stomachs in general, we see that it does run in families so that there is something inherited about having that disorder of brain-gut communication.

And we know it's also related to conditions like migraines or fibromyalgia.

So it's like a pain sensory condition.

That's a really sad one to have it has as a trigger food, French fries.

Yeah, so for some people, we know that people with IBS have increased sensitivity to certain types of foods.

So certainly FODMAPs, I don't know if you've heard of the low FODMAP diet.