An accurate irritable bowel syndrome diagnosis may now be possible by having two blood tests.
Since there’s no conclusive way to diagnose IBS, doctors typically do via X-rays and procedures like colonoscopies to rule out other diseases that mirror irritable bowel syndrome. Until now, however, no test has been available to make the diagnosis itself.
“We now have a test to say, you have a disease,” Dr. Mark Pimentel, gastroenterologist and director of the GI Motility Program and Laboratory at Cedars-Sinai Health System, told CBS News. “Having a test like this shortens the time of suffering, it shortens the time of investigation and accelerates getting the patient directly to treatment.”
Pimentel presented the latest research at the Digestive Disease Week annual meeting in the District of Columbia.
The study compared nearly 3,000 patients already diagnosed with IBS, healthy patients, those with celiac disease, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Blood tests confirmed patients had two antibodies commonly associated with IBS — one with 91.6 percent certainty, and another with 83.8 percent certainty. The tests will also determine whether a patient has IBS or inflammatory bowel disease — which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, involving chronic inflammation of the digestive tract.
The American College of Gastroenterologists estimates that 10 to 15 percent of the adult population has IBS symptoms, but only 5 to 7 percent have been diagnosed with the syndrome.
Symptoms of the disease include chronic bloating, abdominal pain, gas, diarrhea and constipation.
The tests will be marketed under the name IBSchek.
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Correction 05/21/15: A previous version of this article incorrectly described inflammatory bowel disease.
Correction 05/26/15: A previous version of this article misspelled the name of Dr. Mark Pimentel.
