SIBO is a common condition and with great overlap between SIBO and IBS. In fact, SIBO may be the cause of IBS in up to 70% of cases. We also know that food poisoning (acute gastroenteritis) can be a trigger for IBS/SIBO but the mechanisms for this have been unknown. Recent data suggest that food poisoning creates an autoantibody that can cause IBS and SIBO based on animal and human studies.

This presentation explores the data around how autoimmunity is triggered after food poisoning and in the development of IBS and SIBO. We will also explore how this could change the prognosis of IBS and SIBO.

Pharmaceutical agents discussed include rifaximin and neomycin. There is also discussion of prokinetics such as prucalopride and erythromycin.

Although brain injuries have received a great deal of press lately, they are still poorly understood. In this presentation, we explore brain injuries through the lens of Applied Psychophysiology, “the practical understanding of the mind-body interrelationship with regard to therapeutic treatments of various kinds”. (Jonas: Mosby's Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (c) 2005, Elsevier.)

Research and clinical experience point to a strong connection between brain injuries and digestive disorders including SIBO. A review of that research is presented to illustrate and expand upon gastrointestinal cases gleaned from the private practice of Kayle Sandberg-Lewis.

Steven Sandberg-Lewis presents research on treatment options for traumatic brain injury are in the early stages. Factors to consider in the cascade of dysfunction for these patients include reducing oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, and inflammation (activated microglia) as well as supporting mitochondrial function, membranes, synapses and axons. Several protocols have been studied with multiple nutritional and botanical options. This 30 minute presentation gives an overview of the choices and present the evidence available.

Surgery for the treatment of obesity (bariatric surgery) was started in the United States in the 1950s and has evolved to include multiple procedures and devices over the past 60+ years. The earliest procedures, while effective for their primary goal, became infamous for creating severe malnutrition and toxic overgrowth of bacteria in the bypassed part of the small intestine. This bacteria proved so toxic in some patients that it led to liver failure and death.

While that procedure was abandoned, others have replaced it including gastric bypass, duodenal switch, sleeve gastrectomy, and the mini bypass (omega loop). While none has proven to be as toxic as the original surgery, we have learned a lot along the way about how various surgical alternations to the gut can alter not only anatomy, but create changes in the microbiome that impact nutrition, metabolism, weight loss, and other aspects of physiology. This knowledge can help inform clinicians who are supporting surgical weight loss patients, and can also teach us some valuable lessons that apply to SIBO in non-surgical patients.