Scientists Discover How Peppermint Soothes Gastric Pain

[Auxin]

Scientists Discover How Peppermint Soothes Gastric Pain

It uses a specific anti-pain channel that helps irritable bowel syndrome patients get relief

By Randy Dotinga

Friday, April 22, 2011

FRIDAY, April 22 (HealthDay News) -- New research offers insight into how peppermint helps relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

Researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia report that peppermint activates an "anti-pain" channel in the colon. This contributes to relief of pain from inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract.

"Our research shows that peppermint acts through a specific anti-pain channel called TRPM8 to reduce pain-sensing fibers, particularly those activated by mustard and chili," Dr. Stuart Brierley said in a university news release.

"This is potentially the first step in determining a new type of mainstream clinical treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. This is a debilitating condition and affects many people on a daily basis, particularly women who are twice as likely to experience irritable bowel syndrome," Brierley added.

Peppermint is often recommended by alternative medicine practitioners as a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS.

"Some people find their symptoms appear after consuming fatty and spicy foods, coffee and alcohol, but it is more complex than that," Brierley said. "There appears to be a definite link between IBS and a former bout of gastroenteritis, which leaves nerve pain fibers in a heightened state, altering mechanisms in the gut wall and resulting in ongoing pain."

The study was released online this week in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal Pain.

SOURCE: University of Adelaide, news release, April 19, 2011

[1]

Cool discovery. This makes me question the wisdom of taking peppermint for "IBS" tho. It seems peppermint may just be masking perception of the pain from inflammatory conditions that go unresolved, like using morphine to 'fix' a broken arm without ever setting the bone.

When doctors said I had "a IBS family syndrome" I found several things that masked the pain or even eased the inflammation temporarily, it wasnt until I discovered the actual causes that I found a 'treatment' and was cured.

If they develop a pharmaceutical family from this knowledge lots of people will essentially go untreated and simply be given a lifelong prescription for symptom-masking drugs. Masking chronic inflammatory conditions is never a good final solution, promotes cancer and stuff.

The peppermint thing is still good to know tho.

[Magicdirt]

!

Edited May 8, 2011 by Magicdirt

[Auxin]

haha, mine confused doctors for 18 years until I fired them all and decided to find the answer myself. Took me a while to fully work it out- the cause of mine was mild allergies to chocolate, eggs, and preserved meats... and my families lifestyle consisted of always having chocolatey snacks on hand and never cooking a fresh meal

...I suspect the unifying factor is proteins aged to the point of secondary reactions under particular conditions makes some product that causes prolonged (8 days) inflammatory reaction in my gut. Chocolates especially bad.

[Zen Peddler]

Does mint help with bad gas as well?

[Zen Peddler]

whereas if you listen your body and let it heal in it's own time chances are the problem won't come back

I wish that worked with autoimmune diseases...

[Torsten]

the cause of mine was mild allergies to chocolate, eggs, and preserved meats...

 

Is this IgE or IgG based?

[Auxin]

I dont know. I never actually researched it that deeply since everything that caused the reaction was either bad for me or completely trivial (chocolate) so I didnt bother to research it in an attempt to find a work-around.

I can say the effect is characterized by an onset of inflammatory gut pain starting 1/2 to 4 hours after eating. The pain is sometimes subtle at first so if I'm not paying attention that can make the symptoms seem to set it like 18 hours after consumption.. thats uncommon but boy did it confuse me at one point The effect lasts 1 to 8 days with chocolate being nearer to 8 and meats nearer to 4, I think chocolate may just be a much more concentrated toxin source. The inflammation is limited to the gut- no noted mouth, throat or non-alimentary inflammation. No significant fever. No hives or anything. No gas, constipation, or diarrhea. No blood in stools or urine. And only once did I go to the hospital in a relative emergency mindset for it and thats when I discovered that erythromyacin greatly amplified the pain reaction.

[Torsten]

That sounds like IgG. Little is know about IgG intolerances, but it seems obvious that continued irritation from such compounds causes the gut lining to be more permeable, thus allowing more macromolecules into the bloodstream which in turn causes more IgG intolerances. It's a good idea to do a broad IgG allergy test so you can eliminate ALL the causes of irritation.

IgG intolerances is how all of my problems started, but it's also where I first got control over things again once I had the tests done.