According to a study conducted by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome – Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli, acute gastroenteritis can have severe conseuences for up to 5 years and potentially develop into irritable bowel syndrome.
According to the calculations of Sige of the Italian Society of Gastroenterology irritable bowel syndrome hits It makes up 20-40% of the population Italian, especially donne and age between 20 and 50. It is characterized by changes in bowel function with constipation alternating with recurrent abdominal pain, bloating and diarrhea. While symptoms are variable and are a serious disorder for some people, they negatively affect quality of life for others.
However, since then the causes of the pathology have not yet been determined, effective therapeutic solutions are difficult to find. In this sense, it comes from a study carried out by researchers from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart-Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli in Rome. intestinal flu or acute gastroenteritis it can indeed develop into irritable bowel syndrome and should therefore not be underestimated
The legacy of Covid?
In a study published in the British Medical Journal, a group of researchers became the focus Viruses such as Sars CoV-2 and aggressive bacteria such as Campylobacter and pro-inflammatory bacteria such as Enterobacteriaceae and Proteobacteria, responsible for many summer gastrointestinal infections. According to findings, acute gastroenteritis or intestinal flu should never be underestimated because it can leave if it develops into irritable bowel syndrome. Severe consequences that can last up to 5 years.
Scientists emphasized that symptoms appear 7 in 1 person after an episode of gastrointestinal infection. Analysis of the data also allowed us to check their continuity 6-11 months in at least half of the people affected by acute gastroenteritis. As the authors of this study explain, there are those who suggest that the period could be longer than 5 years.
Anxiety disorders triple the risk of developing the syndrome
Not only. As Serena Porcari, the first author of the study, pointed out, the existence of anxiety disorders before an episode of gastroenteritis triples the risk develop irritable bowel syndrome. As for infectious agents, the study emphasized 21% cases the same appearance occurs after acute Campylobacter gastroenteritis in the event that it is likely to occur 5 times more then aProteobacterial or Sars-CoV-2 infection e 4 volts greater after infections Enterobacteriaceae.
Antonio Gasbarrini, co-author of the work and dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Catholic University, as well as professor of Internal Medicine and director of Gemelli Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology Uoc, notes that since then the pathophysiology is still not sufficiently known, among doctors, both in public opinion and irritable there are those included in the name of intestinal syndrome. disorders with an important psychological component and not an organic disease.
Thus, there is a risk of underestimating it and consequently not treating patients adequately. In this sense, the results of the new study open the door to a more careful evolution of the disorders in the patient after an episode of acute gastroenteritis.