Highlights From The 2018 SIBO Symposium

I had the pleasure of attending the 2018 SIBO Symposium at the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon this past week. Here are some of the highlights from Dr. Mark Pimental's two lectures.

Dr. Tomah At The 2018 SIBO Symposium

Dr. Mark Pimental:

• ​Stress alone does not predict IBS - history of food poisoning is a better predictor
• Food poisoning can initiate an autoimmune process in some individuals that damages the Migrating Motor Complex, one of the main mechanisms that prevents SIBO from occuring
• About 1 in 9 people who experience food poisoning will develop IBS/SIBO - risk is higher in females, and if food poisoning was severe, lasted >7 days, required antibiotics, or had blood in the stool

• Dr. Pimental posits there there are 2 distinct conditions - 'Constipation IBS' and 'Non-Constipation IBS'
• TARGET3 trial showed that Rifaximin is effective and can be used multiple times
• There is potential for developing a vaccine that could protect against food poisoning leading to post-infectious IBS
• Testing for anti-CdtB and anti-vinculin antibodies can help predict response to treatment, and if positive it is essential to do everything possible to prevent another bout of food poisoning in these individuals
• Breath testing is helpful, but due to competitive gas dynamics if we can't detect hydrogen sulfide we are missing a piece of the puzzle - Dr. Pimental's group is validating a new machine that can test for hydrogen sulfide​

• Methane slows colonic transit and is associated with constipation and increased BMI
• A novel time-released statin (Lovastatin) may be a potential treatment for methane positive SIBO​

*Slides are from Dr. Mark Pimental's presentations at the 2018 NUNM SIBO Symposium.