Herbal Remedies for Constipation-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) is a common gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain and altered bowel habits. Conventional treatments for IBS-C often provide limited efficiency, leading to an increasing interest in exploring herbal remedies. This systematic review aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of herbal remedies in the management of IBS-C. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library was conducted to identify relevant studies published up to July 2023 and data extraction was performed independently by two reviewers. Results: Overall, the included studies demonstrated some evidence of the beneficial effects of herbal remedies on IBS-C symptoms, including improvements in bowel frequency, stool consistency, abdominal pain, and quality of life. However, the heterogeneity of the interventions and outcome measures limited the ability to perform a meta-analysis. Conclusion: This systematic review suggests that herbal remedies may have potential benefits in the management of IBS-C. However, the quality of evidence is limited, and further well-designed, large-scale RCTs are needed to establish the efficacy and safety of specific herbal remedies for IBS-C. Clinicians should exercise caution when recommending herbal remedies and consider individual patient characteristics and preferences

Movements of marine fish and decapod crustaceans: Process, theory and application

Many marine species have a multi-phase ontogeny, with each phase usually associated with a spatially and temporally discrete set of movements. For many fish and decapod crustaceans that live inshore, a tri-phasic life cycle is widespread, involving: (1) the movement of planktonic eggs and larvae to nursery areas; (2) a range of routine shelter and foraging movements that maintain a home range; and (3) spawning migrations away from the home range to close the life cycle. Additional complexity is found in migrations that are not for the purpose of spawning and movements that result in a relocation of the home range of an individual that cannot be defined as an ontogenetic shift. Tracking and tagging studies confirm that life cycle movements occur across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. This dynamic multi-scale complexity presents a significant problem in selecting appropriate scales for studying highly mobile marine animals. We address this problem by first comprehensively reviewing the movement patterns of fish and decapod crustaceans that use inshore areas and present a synthesis of life cycle strategies, together with five categories of movement. We then examine the scale-related limitations of traditional approaches to studies of animal-environment relationships. We demonstrate that studies of marine animals have rarely been undertaken at scales appropriate to the way animals use their environment and argue that future studies must incorporate animal movement into the design of sampling strategies. A major limitation of many studies is that they have focused on: (1) a single scale for animals that respond to their environment at multiple scales or (2) a single habitat type for animals that use multiple habitat types. We develop a hierarchical conceptual framework that deals with the problem of scale and environmental heterogeneity and we offer a new definition of 'habitat' from an organism-based perspective. To demonstrate that the conceptual framework can be applied, we explore the range of tools that are currently available for both measuring animal movement patterns and for mapping and quantifying marine environments at multiple scales. The application of a hierarchical approach, together with the coordinated integration of spatial technologies offers an unprecedented opportunity for researchers to tackle a range of animal-environment questions for highly mobile marine animals. Without scale-explicit information on animal movements many marine conservation and resource management strategies are less likely to achieve their primary objectives

The Effect of Polyphenols, Minerals, Fibers, and Fruits on Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain, bloating, and changes in bowel habits. Various dietary factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis and management of IBS symptoms. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effects of polyphenols, minerals, fibers, and fruits on the symptoms and overall well-being of individuals with IBS. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in several electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Studies published up until July 2023 were included. Results: The selected studies varied in terms of study design, participant characteristics, intervention duration, and outcome measures. Overall, the findings suggest that dietary interventions involving polyphenols, minerals, fibers, and fruits can have a positive impact on IBS symptoms. Dietary fiber supplementation, particularly soluble fiber, has been associated with reduced bloating and enhanced stool consistency. Conclusions: This systematic review provides evidence supporting the beneficial effects of polyphenols, minerals, fibers, and fruits in IBS patients. These dietary components hold promise as complementary approaches for managing IBS symptoms. However, due to the heterogeneity of the included studies and the limited number of high-quality randomized controlled trials, further well-designed trials are warranted to establish the optimal dosages, duration, and long-term effects of these interventions. Understanding the role of specific dietary components in IBS management may pave the way for personalized dietary recommendations and improve the quality of life for individuals suffering from this complex disorder

Enteroscopy versus Video Capsule Endoscopy for Automatic Diagnosis of Small Bowel Disorders—A Comparative Analysis of Artificial Intelligence Applications

Background: Small bowel disorders present a diagnostic challenge due to the limited accessibility of the small intestine. Accurate diagnosis is made with the aid of specific procedures, like capsule endoscopy or double-ballon enteroscopy, but they are not usually solicited and not widely accessible. This study aims to assess and compare the diagnostic effectiveness of enteroscopy and video capsule endoscopy (VCE) when combined with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for the automatic detection of small bowel diseases. Materials and methods: We performed an extensive literature search for relevant studies about AI applications capable of identifying small bowel disorders using enteroscopy and VCE, published between 2012 and 2023, employing PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Embase, Scopus, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases. Results: Our investigation discovered a total of 27 publications, out of which 21 studies assessed the application of VCE, while the remaining 6 articles analyzed the enteroscopy procedure. The included studies portrayed that both investigations, enhanced by AI, exhibited a high level of diagnostic accuracy. Enteroscopy demonstrated superior diagnostic capability, providing precise identification of small bowel pathologies with the added advantage of enabling immediate therapeutic intervention. The choice between these modalities should be guided by clinical context, patient preference, and resource availability. Studies with larger sample sizes and prospective designs are warranted to validate these results and optimize the integration of AI in small bowel diagnostics. Conclusions: The current analysis demonstrates that both enteroscopy and VCE with AI augmentation exhibit comparable diagnostic performance for the automatic detection of small bowel disorders