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Related Concept Videos

Anxiety: Overview01:18

Anxiety: Overview

Anxiety is a common mental disorder featuring excessive worry, fear, and apprehension, significantly affecting daily life. People with anxiety disorders experience persistent and intense anxiety, interrupting their everyday functioning.
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.
Drugs for Treatment of Diarrhea-Predominant IBS01:17

Drugs for Treatment of Diarrhea-Predominant IBS

Diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) is a subtype of IBS characterized primarily by frequent, loose, or watery stools, abdominal pain, and abdominal discomfort. Therapeutic approaches to managing IBS-D include dietary changes, stress management techniques, and pharmaceutical interventions.
Two specific drugs used in the treatment are alosetron (Lotronex) and eluxadoline (Viberzi). Alosetron, a 5-HT3 antagonist, works by slowing the movement of stools in the gut, reducing bowel...
Irritable Bowel Syndrome I: Introduction01:17

Irritable Bowel Syndrome I: Introduction

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is characterized by functional disturbances in the gastrointestinal system, presenting a cluster of symptoms without evident structural or biochemical abnormalities. It primarily affects the large intestine and may cause abdominal pain, bloating, excessive gas, diarrhea, constipation, or both.
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Altered...
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome II: Clinical Features and Diagnostic Evaluation
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome III: Medical and Nursing Management01:30

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome01:23

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

DefinitionIrritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by recurrent combinations of abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation.Pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndromeIts pathophysiology is multifactorial, involving disturbances in motility, sensory processing, microbial balance, barrier integrity, and gut–brain communication. These mechanisms interact to produce symptoms that vary across IBS subtypes.Altered Motility PatternsDisordered...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 8, 2026

The Forced Swim Test as a Model of Depressive-like Behavior
05:42

The Forced Swim Test as a Model of Depressive-like Behavior

Published on: March 2, 2015

Intestinal transit in anxiety and depression

D A Gorard1, J E Gomborone, G W Libby

  • 1Digestive Diseases Research Centre, St Bartholomew's, London.

Gut
|October 1, 1996
PubMed
Summary

Anxiety is linked to faster whole gut transit time (WGTT) and orocaecal transit time (OCTT), while depression shows slower WGTT. Mood significantly impacts intestinal motor function in patients with affective disorders.

Area of Science:

  • Gastroenterology
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychosomatic Medicine

Background:

  • Patients with anxiety and depression frequently report gastrointestinal issues.
  • Previous research on the gut-brain axis primarily examined patients with defecation disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To objectively assess intestinal transit in patients with generalized anxiety disorder and/or major depression, regardless of reported bowel symptoms.
  • To investigate the relationship between affective disorders and objective measures of gut motility.

Main Methods:

  • Studied 21 psychiatric outpatients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and/or major depression, alongside 21 healthy controls.
  • Measured orocaecal transit time (OCTT) using the lactulose hydrogen breath test.
  • Assessed whole gut transit time (WGTT) via abdominal radiography after ingesting radio-opaque markers.

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Main Results:

  • Patients with anxiety exhibited significantly shorter WGTT (14 hours) and OCTT (60 minutes) compared to controls and depressed patients.
  • Depressed patients showed a trend towards prolonged WGTT (49 hours), which correlated with depression severity scores (r=0.59 to 0.66).
  • No significant difference in transit times was observed between depressed patients and controls, but trends suggest altered motility in depression.

Conclusions:

  • Objective findings support the clinical observation that anxiety accelerates bowel movements and depression leads to constipation.
  • Mood state demonstrably influences intestinal motor function, highlighting the gut-brain connection in affective disorders.
  • This study provides objective evidence of altered intestinal transit in anxiety and depression.