Role of Herbal Medicine, Acupressure and Acupuncture in the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), is a chronic functional gastrointestinal disease that is characterized by a variety of symptoms that have a major negative impact on patients’ quality of life. It affects 9–23% of the total population of the world. At this time, no medication that is capable of addressing all symptoms associated with IBS in an effective manner (antispasmodics, antidiarrheals, sedatives). More than half of patients may seek treatment for their gastrointestinal problems via the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), which includes treatments like herbal medicine, acupuncture, and acupuncture. The objective of this chapter is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a herbal preparation, acupuncture, and acupressure treatment in patients diagnosed with IBS. Several sources were used to acquire the material, including review articles published in various publications that had keywords such as herbal drugs, acupuncture, acupressure, IBS and so on. The information was also gathered from the Internet. Herbal therapy and plant products are widely utilized to treat IBS. Acupuncture and acupressure have long been used successfully by patients to treat functional gastrointestinal problems. Multiple clinical studies have shown that their effectiveness and safety are superior to those of placebo and conventional medications. Herbal medications, acupressure, or acupuncture show clinically and statistically significant alleviation of IBS symptoms.