Home
Bupa members

Support and offers for individual members and customers

Peppermint oil offers fresh IBS hope

21 November 2008

Key facts
  • IBS pain in the abdomen and changes in bowel habit. It can also cause excess wind, sickness and indigestion.
  • IBS symptoms can come and go over long period of time.
  • It's thought to affect between five and 20 percent of the population in the UK at any time.
  • The cause of IBS isn't known.
  • Fibre has traditionally been advised to treat IBS, but more recently peppermint oil and antispasmodic drugs have been available to buy.

Taking peppermint oil may help treat the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a recent study suggests.

The systematic review, published in the BMJ, also found that eating extra fibre and taking antispasmodic drugs - which reduce muscle contractions - also help IBS symptoms.

For their study, the researchers searched for randomised controlled trials that compared peppermint oil, fibre and antispasmodic drugs with no treatment or a placebo for preventing IBS.

They identified 12 trials looking at fibre involving a total of 591 patients, 22 trials looking at antispasmodics, which involved 1,778 patients overall, and four trials, involving a total of 392 patients, that looked at peppermint oil.

After analysing the data, they found that only 26 percent of patients with IBS had symptoms when taking peppermint oil, compared with 65 percent of patients who were given a placebo. Overall the risk of having IBS symptoms was reduced by 57 percent by taking peppermint oil.

The researchers also found that antispasmodic drugs, particularly hyoscine, helped to reduce IBS symptoms. Overall, the risk of IBS was reduced by 32 percent by antispasmodic medication.

Fibre appeared to reduce the risk of IBS symptoms by about 12 percent. The team found that only ispaghula husk - a type of fibre used to treat constipation - was effective.

The number of patients who would need to be treated with fibre, antispasmodic drugs and peppermint oil to prevent one of them having persistent IBS were 11, five and 2.5, respectively.

However, the researchers caution that although peppermint oil appears to be the most effective way of treating IBS of the three methods, the studies they analysed involved a smaller number of patients than the other treatments analysed. This may limit the accuracy of their results.

While recommending further research, the authors conclude: "This systematic review and meta-analysis shows that ispaghula husk, antispasmodics (particularly hyoscine) and peppermint oil are all effective treatments for irritable bowel syndrome."

Back to the latest health news

 

Bupa health insurance

Bupa health checks