New Treatment Soothes Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Relieves Pain, Diarrhea in Women, Study Shows

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By Janis Kelly
WebMD Medical News

(Ithaca, N.Y) -- A new treatment that calms the inner turmoil of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may provide relief to millions of women who suffer from pain, diarrhea, and discomfort associated with the disease.

A large study reported in the March 25 issue of the journal The Lancet
shows that, in the three month study, more patients given the drug Lotronex
(alosetron) reported relief from pain and bowel problems than a group of
patients given a placebo (41% vs. 29%). The drug mainly helps women with
IBS whose major symptom (in addition to pain and discomfort) is diarrhea.
The drug is not indicated for women with IBS whose main problem is constipation.

IBS is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders. It typically starts
during a person's teens or twenties and may continue -- or occur intermittently -- for many years. It affects more women than men. The main symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea and/or constipation, and bloating.The cause of IBS is unknown.

Lotronex acts by interfering with a body chemical called serotonin, which is
known to affect intestinal movement and pain. People with IBS typically
have gastrointestinal systems that are overly sensitive to pain and to anything that causes the bowel to expand. Lotronex appears to calm some of the nerve signals that trigger those problems.

Allen W. Mangel, MD, tells WebMD, "The success of alosetron confirmed
the role of serotonin in IBS." Mangel is International Director of Gastrointestinal Clinical Development at Glaxo Wellcome Inc. in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Significantly more of the Lotronex patients reported adequate relief of pain and bowel-related symptoms for all three months of the study. Although the study included both women with "diarrhea-predominant" IBS and those with "mixed" (both diarrhea and constipation) IBS, only those with "diarrhea-predominant" IBS were helped by Lotronex.

About 30% of women treated with Lotronex had problems with constipation, but most of them decided to continue in the study despite this side effect. In most cases, constipation was mild to moderate. In only 9% of patients was constipation severe enough to require a few days without treatment.

The benefits of Lotronex stopped when treatment stopped, but also resumed when treatment resumed in long-term studies, Mangel says. "IBS is a
chronic, recurrent condition. Episodes occur and can last for a few days,
weeks, or months. When the patient stops taking the drug, symptoms come
back. However, the situation for each patient is different. For some individuals, after a few weeks or months of treatment, it might be possible to discontinue alosetron for a period of months until the next recurrence of IBSsymptoms occurs."

Lotronex is already approved for the treatment of IBS in women whose
main bowel symptom is diarrhea. The drug's safety and effectiveness in men
have not been established.