The bus driver metaphor
Last updated on 4th April 2012
I wrote this entry first in April of last year, but with my mother's illness and my decision to write about it, I felt it made sense to post this again.
The aim of this blog is to be helpful - for clients who come to see me, for fellow health professionals, and for other website visitors. It's pretty obvious that I may be able to offer something useful from my knowledge and experience of being a doctor and therapist for several decades. What's less obvious is whether writing about my personal life might be helpful.
Here's a gutsy, nutritional, low sunlight kind of blog post to suit our post-holiday season. First the gutsy bit. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) - with its characteristic symptoms of abdominal pain, altered bowel habit, and possibly bloating - is very common, affecting about 15% of the population. Ford et al systematically reviewed all research on treating IBS with fibre, antispasmodics, or peppermint oil. Fibre was some use, but only in the form of ispaghula (UK Fybogel, Isogel). The antispasmodics otilonium and hysocine (UK Buscopan) seemed also to be of help. But what attracted me to the study was the finding that most helpful of the three treatments seemed to be the old-fashioned remedy of taking peppermint oil.
Sadness. I woke feeling sad ...