* Four weeks' treatment with peppermint oil (2 enteric-coated capsules twice daily) improved abdominal symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (Rome II criteria).
* 57 patients were included in the double-blind, placebo-controlled study which specifically excluded those patients with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, lactose intolerance or celiac disease.
* After 4 weeks, 75% of patients treated with peppermint oil showed a >50% improvement in symptom scores compared with 38% of placebo recipients; this difference was statistically significant.
Shaun’s comment: Peppermint has been thought for centuries to help with stomach complaints, although in high doses it can be an irritant to the stomach itself. This study therefore tested enteric-coated capsules as a potential treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. The results were positive, with statistically significant improvements when compared to placebo observed after 4 and 8 weeks. Another interesting find was that over 1/3 of the patients treated with placebo had an improvement in symptoms of >50%, highlighting that there is a strong psychosomatic component to this condition.
Study reference:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dld.2007.02.006
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