Body constitutions of traditional Chinese medicine caused a significant effect on irritable bowel syndrome.

BACKGROUND

According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), all types of body constitutions, except for the Gentleness (ie, the control group in our study), have disease susceptibility and affect the disease development process. This study attempted to investigate the relationship between TCM body constitutions and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was based on Taiwan Biobank (TWB) and collected clinical data from 13 941 subjects aged 30 to 70. The results of the study showed that subjects with Yang-deficiency (N = 3161 subjects, odds ratio [OR] = 2.654, 95% CI = 1.740-3.910), Ying-deficiency (N = 3331 subjects, OR = 1.096, 95% CI = 0.627-1.782) or Stasis (N = 2335 subjects, OR = 1.680, 95% CI = 0.654-3.520) were more likely to have IBS.

RESULTS

If the subjects with two or more TCM body constitutions: Yang-deficiency + Ying-deficiency (OR = 3.948, 95% CI = 2.742-5.560), Yang-deficiency + Stasis (OR = 2.312, 95% CI = 1.170-4.112), Ying-deficiency + Stasis (OR = 1.851, 95% CI = 0.828-3.567), or Yang-deficiency + Ying-deficiency + Stasis (OR = 3.826, 95% CI = 2.954-4.932) were also prone to IBS.

CONCLUSION

These results confirmed the high correlation between TCM body constitutions and IBS. Because the current treatment for IBS is not entirely satisfactory, integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine might provide patients with an alternative treatment option to alleviate IBS.