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Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disorder that affects the large intestine. It is characterized by symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea. According to a team of Korean researchers, individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) have a decreased diversity of bacteria in their intestines compared to healthy individuals. This is the first study to establish a clear connection between IBS and a reduction in gut microbiota diversity. The findings were published in the American Society for Microbiology’s journal Microbiology Spectrum. Normally, “More than 10,000 species of microorganism live in the human intestine,” said corresponding author...

Finding the world's super poopers could save a lot of butts Studies using fecal transplants to treat inflammatory bowel diseases suggest some poop may be better than others. Dana G. Smith posted Mar 26th, 2019For over a year, Sydney Snyder was pooping up to 30 times a day. She’d been given an aggressive regimen of three different antibiotics to treat an earlier stomach infection, but the drugs did their job a little too well. The antibiotics wiped out a huge chunk of her gut flora, and in the resulting bacterial vacuum a new problem emerged: Clostridium difficile, also known as...

May 22, 2003, 8:45 a.m. My Evening with Castro The experience of a lifetime. By Cheryl Flake Oliver Stone calls him "one of the earth's wisest people." Jack Nicholson has dubbed him a "genius." "An experience of a lifetime" is how Kevin Costner described his own meeting. I recently spent an evening with the same man, Fidel Castro. I came away convinced it must be more than Cuban cigars that these Hollywood types are smoking on their visits to Havana. Two months ago I accompanied my husband, Rep. Jeff Flake, and seven other members of Congress on a visit to...