[Bran in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome]

The paper deals with the problem of using wheat bran in the treatment of patients with irritable colon syndrome expressed as spastic constipation. The effectiveness of the treatment with the wheat bran only (in a dose of 30-35 g/day), and in combination with drugs was comparatively studied in 105 patients. The bran fractions differing in the particle size, in the content of cellulose, starch and vitamins were used in the treatment. The combined therapy proved to be advantageous only in the rate of the clinical effect, while the acceleration of the movement along the large intestine did not depend on the treatment type. A long-term (during one year) follow-up of the patients showed that the bran intake led to the cessation of the disease relapse; when the bran was abolished the symptoms of the disease appeared in 11 out of 12 cases. The highest effect was recorded with the bran fraction containing 55.3% cellulose, 18.3% lignin, 157 micrograms tocopherol and the lowest amount of starch--18.0%. A conclusion has been made that the wheat bran are effective in the treatment and prevention of intestinal diseases, the effectiveness of the treatment depends on the summary content of food fibers in the nutrition.