Exploring treatment interventions that complementary and integrative medicine practitioners use for increased intestinal permeability

Researchers from Australia explored the treatment interventions complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) practitioners use to manage an emerging health condition like increased intestinal permeability (IP), as well as the association these methods have on the observed time to resolve the condition. Their findings were published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

• The researchers conducted a cross-sectional survey of Australian naturopaths, nutritionists, and Western herbal medicine practitioners through the Practitioner Research and Collaboration Initiative (PRACI) network.
• They considered the frequencies and percentages of the treatment methods, including chi-square analysis, to examine the associations between treatment methods and observed time to resolve IP.
• The researchers reported that 36 CIM practitioners responded to the survey. These practitioners use a multi-modal approach for the management of IP.
• Almost 93 percent of the respondents use three or more categories of treatment interventions, namely, nutritional, herbal, dietary and lifestyle interventions.
• The researchers also found that the main treatments prescribed for IP include:
  • Zinc (85.2 percent)
  • Multi-strain probiotics (77.8 percent)
  • Vitamin D (75 percent)
  • Glutamine (73.1 percent)
  • Turmeric (73.1 percent)
  • Saccharomyces boulardii (70.4 percent)
• They also reported that CIM practitioners ask patients with IP to reduce their intake of alcohol (96.3 percent), gluten (85.2 percent) and dairy products (75 percent).
• In addition, CIM practitioners frequently advise evaluation of antibiotics (75 percent) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (73.1 percent) prescriptions.
• They observed that IP takes longer to resolve when patients do not reduce the intensity of their exercise.

The researchers concluded that their findings align with pre-clinical research, suggesting that CIM practitioners prescribe in accordance with published literature. They also recommend that CIM practitioners use numerous integrative treatment methods for the management of IP.

Read the full study at this link.

Journal Reference:

Leech B, Schloss J, Steel A. TREATMENT INTERVENTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF INTESTINAL PERMEABILITY: A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY OF COMPLEMENTARY AND INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE PRACTITIONERS. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2019;25(6):623–636. DOI: 10.1089/acm.2018.0374