TO THE EDITO R: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder characterized by persistent or recurrent abdominal pain and discomfort with altered bowel habits. It affects approximately 10%-20% of the adult population, with typical symptoms like abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea and bloating. 1,2 Although IBS is not lethal, it can reduce quality of life and increase medical costs. Whi...

Hydrogen breath test is a non-invasive and inexpensive method for estimation of small bowel transit time, detection of excess bacteria in the small intestine and demonstration of maldigestion or malabsorption. Until now, little has been known about breath hydrogen excretion in lambs. The aim of our study was to assess the patterns of breath hydrogen excretion in lambs before and after feeding e...

The breath hydrogen test is used in gastroenterological investigation, particularly for sugar malabsorption, transit time, and the investigation of small-bowel bacterial overgrowth. Several methods of collecting breath from infants and children for hydrogen assay have been described. Four such techniques (postnasal catheter, nasal prong, Rahn-Otis end-tidal sampler, and modification of a party ...

Sugar malabsorption in the bowel can lead to bloating, cramps, diarrhea and other symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome as well as affecting absorption of other nutrients. The hydrogen breath test is now a well established noninvasive test for assessing malabsorption of sugars in the small intestine. However, there are patients who can suffer from the same spectrum of malabsorption issues but wh...

Thirty-eight infants and young children with gastroenteritis were investigated for lactose malabsorption. Each of them was given an oral lactose load of either 0.5 g/kg or 2 g/kg after which breath hydrogen excretion was measured, and each was observed to see if he had clinical symptoms of lactose intolerance. Only one patient, given 2 g/kg lactose, had clinical intolerance. His breath hydrogen...

Hydrogen breath tests are non-invasive and safe diagnostic tools used to investigate functional intestinal disorders. For the diagnosis of fructose or lactose malabsorption as well as for the detection of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth syndrome, hydrogen breath tests are even regarded as gold standard. However, standardization of the testing procedure and the interpretation of the test r...

BACKGROUND Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a condition in which excessive levels of bacteria, mainly the colonic-type species are present in the small intestine. Recent data suggest that SIBO may contribute to the pathophysiology of Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The purpose of this study was to identify potential predictors of SIBO in patients with IBS. METHODS Adults with I...

The possible influence on functional outcomes of hydrogen production in the ileoanal pouch after restorative proctocolectomy was investigated by means of lactulose H2 breath tests. Eight of 15 patients had significant increases in breath hydrogen after 10 g lactulose. One patient declined to participate in further investigations, the remaining seven responders had no evidence of small bowel bac...

The extent to which monitoring breath hydrogen excretion provides information concerning the entry of the residues of a solid test meal into the colon was investigated in 89 normal subjects, and 11 patients with the irritable bowel syndrome. The profile of breath hydrogen concentration showed an early peak, that occurred soon after ingesting the test meal in 89% subjects. This was followed by a...

Breath hydrogen and methane are specific end products of colonic fermentation, a process which may play a protective role against colon cancer. To assess the possibility of using these markers in epidemiological studies, we characterized the intra- and intersubject variability of breath hydrogen and methane excretion over 15 consecutive days among 32 men and women of various ethnic backgrounds ...