Gravity and the Gut: A Hypothesis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome 2022 Brennan

Sly Saint

Sly Saint

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Abstract


The pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)—a disorder of gut-brain interaction that affects up to 10% of the world's population—remains uncertain. It is puzzling that a disorder so prevalent and archetypal among humans can be explained by disparate theories, respond to treatments with vastly different mechanisms of action, and present with a dazzling array of comorbidities. It is reasonable to question whether there is a unifying factor that binds these divergent theories and observations, and if so, what that factor might be.

This article offers a testable hypothesis that seeks to accommodate the manifold theories, clinical symptoms, somatic comorbidities, neuropsychological features, and treatment outcomes of IBS by describing the syndrome in relation to a principal force of human evolution: gravity. In short, the hypothesis proposed here is that IBS may result from ineffective anatomical, physiological, and neuropsychological gravity management systems designed to optimize gastrointestinal form and function, protect somatic and visceral integrity, and maximize survival in a gravity-bound world.

To explain this unconventional hypothesis of IBS pathogenesis, referred to herein as the gravity hypothesis, this article reviews the influence of gravity on human evolution; discusses how Homo sapiens imperfectly evolved to manage this universal force of attraction; and explores the mechanical, microbial, and neuropsychological consequences of gravity intolerance with a focus on explaining IBS.

This article concludes by considering the diagnostic and therapeutic implications of this new hypothesis and proposes experiments to support or reject this line of inquiry. It is hoped that the ideas in this thought experiment may also help encourage new or different ways of thinking about this common disorder.

https://journals.lww.com/ajg/Fullte...nd_the_Gut__A_Hypothesis_of_Irritable.15.aspx
 
article about the article

Wild New Hypothesis Suggests IBS Could Be a Form of 'Gravity Intolerance'
There's an invisible and relentless force acting on your bowels right now, and it might be causing some people serious irritation.

No one really knows how or why irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) develops, but gastroenterologist Brennan Spiegel from Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles has outlined a weighty new hypothesis.

In a paper published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Spiegel argues IBS is triggered by the body's inability to manage gravity.

Our bowels, Spiegel explains, are like a big sack of potatoes that we have to carry around our whole lives.

If our body's usual management of gravity fails for whatever reason, our diaphragm can slip down and compress our intestines, possibly causing motility issues and bacterial overgrowth.

"Our nervous system also evolved in a world of gravity, and that might explain why many people feel abdominal 'butterflies' when anxious," says Spiegel.

"It's curious that these 'gut feelings' also occur when falling toward Earth, like when dropping on a roller coaster or in a turbulent airplane. The nerves in the gut are like an ancient G-force detector that warns us when we're experiencing – or about to experience – a dangerous fall. It's just a hypothesis, but people with IBS might be prone to over-predicting G-force threats that never occur."

The nice part about Spiegel's hypothesis is that it's easily testable and doesn't exclude other theories of IBS.
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https://www.sciencealert.com/wild-new-hypothesis-suggests-ibs-could-be-a-form-of-gravity-intolerance
 
This sounds like a joke. Surely the diaphragm moves down with each inbreath as you expand your lungs if you are breathing properly using the diaphragm, and at the same time the abdominal wall moves outwards so the pressure on the gut remains the same.
 
So remove gravity and IBS stops?

Easily testable.

Train up pwIBS as astronauts......and see what happens.

Of course it'd cost a bit, but people are launching cars and who knows what else up there, the cost to launch a few pwIBS seems a small price to pay given they say it affects 800 million people, according to 'them'.
 
Art Vandelay said:
To be fair, while this hypothesis is ridiculous, it is still substantially less stupid than most of the hypotheses on the causation of IBS currently peddled by the medical profession (eg, childhood trauma).
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Yeah. When are we gonna stop fobbing off illness as just stress? Even if stress is a factor, um, if stress gives you diarrhea or constipation you still have medical problem. And we've probably done little to figure out IBS because it's not always severe.
 
Art Vandelay said:
To be fair, while this hypothesis is completely ridiculous, it is still substantially less stupid than most of the hypotheses on the causation of IBS currently peddled by the medical profession (eg, childhood trauma).
Click to expand...
And unlike some of that other stuff which is often falsely presented as established fact, this gravity idea is clearly introduced as an unconventional hypothesis put out there for testing. Which is just as it should be but because there's so much in the field of "MUS" that isn't as it should be I appreciate the honesty. Not sure how much money I'd want to spend on testing this but at least any potential funders know what they'd be getting into.
RedFox said:
Yeah. When are we gonna stop fobbing off illness as just stress? Even if stress is a factor, um, if stress gives you diarrhea or constipation you still have medical problem. And we've probably done little to figure out IBS because it's not always severe.
Click to expand...
I have no problem with accepting that significant and/or prolonged stress can be a major contributor to both physical and mental illness. What I object to is one, the erroneous conclusion that because stress can have a role in some cases it must play a role in all. And two, the equally erroneous conclusion that because stress can have a role in some cases any damage caused must always be reversible by CBT (unless the obstinate patient doesn't want to get well :rolleyes:).

I've only read the abstract so don't know if this gravity paper perpetuates either or both of these fallacies.
 
Art Vandelay said:
To be fair, while this hypothesis is completely ridiculous, it is still substantially less stupid than most of the hypotheses on the causation of IBS currently peddled by the medical profession (eg, childhood trauma).
Click to expand...
True. But it seems to mostly revolve around interoception and stuff like this, about signals sent because something is being sensed. At least that's how I understand it.

There's just no need to add gravity to this, it's just silly. The generic idea of interoception and stuff like that is old, this just seems like a reinterpretation of the same thing with an additional superfluous step. This is basically pseudoscience added on top of pseudoscience.

But absolutely true that by the usual standards, this is pretty mildly ridiculous. There is way dumber stuff being praised and applauded at physicians' conferences, which is really depressing when you think of it.
 
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