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Bowel

Feature: Bowel cancer screening

Statutory health insurance funds in Germany have offered bowel cancer screening for over 30 years. In 2003 endoscopy of the bowel has been added to the tests offered for screening. Recent trials make it possible to better assess what benefits can be expected from the tests and what their disadvantages are. Read about what the different tests can do in our feature on screening.

Feature: Irritable bowel syndrome

IBS is a common bowel problem. Other names for it include irritable colon, mucus or spastic colitis and nervous stomach. The symptoms are gut pain, constipation and/or diarrhoea. It’s not dangerous, but the symptoms can be very painful. Find out all about this little-understood disease and what you can try for relief in our Fact Sheet.

Feature: Preventing bowel cancer

There is no shortage of recommendations about how to prevent bowel cancer: more fibre, less meat, vitamin supplements and even medicines feature in the long list of suggestions that have been propagated for years. We have studied the latest evidence to see how much scientific support there now is for these common recommendations.

Research summaries

Bowel cancer: Can calcium prevent it?

Trials have shown that calcium supplements can prevent bowel polyps. There is still no final answer on whether or not this also prevents bowel cancer. more...

Irritable bowel syndrome: Are there treatments you can count on to help?

Fiber supplements made from psyllium, peppermint oil products and some anti-cramping medications like butylscopolamine can relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Anti-cramping medications in particular sometimes cause adverse effects such as a dry mouth or dizziness. more...