Gravity could be the culprit behind tetchy intestine syndrome ( IBS ) , allot to a new supposition . Yes , the force that keep our groundwork found firmly on the surface of the Earth could be responsible for a condition that is thought to affect up to 10 percent of the world ’s population .

It may seem out - there , but to writer Dr Brennan Spiegel , director of Health Services Research at Cedars - Sinai Medical Center , the influence of gravity on our bodies is an untapped well of scientific discovery .

“ Our bodies are affected by gravity from the moment we ’re born to the solar day we die . It ’s a personnel so primal that we seldom note its constant influence on our health , ” Spiegel said in astatement .

Despite the prevalence of IBS , and the fact that it was first describedover 100 class ago , there is still no consensus on what in reality causes it . One theory , backed up by the apparent effectualness ofpsychological therapy , is that IBS results from dodgy communication between the gut and the genius . Another potential account implicate thegut microbiome , the unique collection of bacteria living within each of our digestive systems . There ’s even been a hypnotism that the hurting that diseased person experience could all be down toitchy intestine .

This lack of a unifying explanation is a source of thwarting for those living with the often life - alter symptom ofIBS . Without a secure reason of the movement of the stipulation , there is short hope for a cure for the stultification , diarrhea , pain , bloat , and hamper that diseased person have to put up with .

So , the somberness hypothesis could be a welcome new avenue to research .

“ There ’s such a miscellany of explanations that I wonder if they could all be simultaneously true , ” said Spiegel . “ As I recollect about each theory , from those involving motility , to bacterium , to the neuropsychology of IBS , I earn they might all point back to graveness as a consolidative factor . It seemed passably strange at first , no doubt , but as I developed the estimation and run away it by colleagues , it started to make good sense . ”

The collection of pipe organ and tissue paper that make up the digestive system are a large load , and gravity can drag us down , causing some of these organs to pitch from their normal positions . The organic structure has an inbuilt suspension system that counteracts the uncollectible of these effects , but some multitude are better accommodate to cope with gravity than others . Failure of these abeyance systems , the possibility blend in , could lead to a variety of musculoskeletal and digestive problems , including IBS .

It ’s not just about the physical , though . Take the example of a rollercoaster . Some people are the throw - your - hands - up , screeching - in - delight case , while others are gritting their teeth and cowering in fear ( me , I ’m firm in the latter camp ) . This spectrum of reply to the G - force play we experience on drive or during a riotous flight is what Spiegel has termed “ GB - force watchfulness . ”

“ The boldness in the gut are like an ancient G - personnel detector that warns us when we ’re experiencing – or about to live – a grave fall . It ’s just a hypothesis , but people with IBS might be prostrate to over - predicting G - force threats that never occur . ”

Spiegel even suggest that abnormal serotonin , anotherpotential contributorto IBS , could be due to sobriety intolerance .

Abdominal distress have by one of the fundamental forcefulness of the world may not have been on your lotto card for 2022 . However , the dish of this new hypothesis , allot to Women ’s Guild Chair in Gastroenterology and director of the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases at Cedars - Sinai , Dr Shelly Lu , is that it can be examine experimentally . “ If proved correct , it is a major prototype shift in the way we mean about IBS and perchance treatment as well . ”

With the downright variety of symptom it causes , it ’s potential we will never have one single account for IBS . It ’s much more probable that a combining of factors are involve . But , if anyone does fancy running a clinical trial in thelow - gravity environmentof out place , you’re able to sure as shooting sign me up .

The bailiwick is print inThe American Journal of Gastroenterology .