Phytotherapy in irritable bowel syndrome: a randomised double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Brinkhaus B¹, Hentschel C², Lindner M¹, Schindler G¹, Bauer J³, Kohnen R⁴, Lehmacher W⁵, Schönekäs H², Hahn EG¹

¹Research Group for Traditional and Complementary Medicine, Dept. of Medicine I, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

²Dept of Complementary Medicine, University of Exeter, UK

³Dept. of Medicine, 6, Gastroenterology, Clinic of Nuremberg, Germany

⁴Institute of Psychology II, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

⁵Institute of Medical Statistics, Informatics and Epidemiology, University of Cologne, Germany

Objective

With a prevalence of 10%, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the most common functional gastrointestinal disorder. To date, no effective treatment has been found, and Complementary Medicine is increasingly being tried. We investigated two phytotherapeutic agents as monotherapy (3 tablets/d) including 250 mg Extr. Fumaria officinalis (FO) or 200 mg Extr. Curcuma xanthorrhiza (CX) standardized to 4.0 mg curcumin in terms of their long-term therapeutic effects.

Materials and methods

75 IBS patients were randomized to placebo treatment or phytotherapy (FO: n = 25; CX: n = 25; placebo: n = 25). The severity of the symptoms typical of IBS (pain, bloating and stool irregularities) was recorded by means of a score. Quality of life was determined using standardised analog scales. Treatment was applied for 18 weeks and the target parameters documented every 6 weeks.

Results

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Conclusion

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