Cause of common chronic diarrhoea revealed in new research

Cause of common chronic diarrhoea revealed in new research. Study results suggest a hormone deficiency causes bile acid diarrhoea Imperial College London News Release For Immediate Release - Monday 2 November 2009 A common type of chronic diarrhoea may be caused by a hormone deficiency, according to new research published in the November issue of . The authors of the paper, from Imperial College London, with collaborators from King's College London and the University of Edinburgh, say their results could help more doctors recognise this type of diarrhoeal illness, and may lead to the development of more effective tests and treatments to help improve the lives of many people suffering with chronic diarrhoea. Chronic idiopathic bile acid diarrhoea affects an estimated one in 100 people in the UK and it can cause people to have up to ten watery bowel movements a day, often for months at a time. This type of diarrhoea occurs when an overload of bile acid reaches the colon and causes excess water to be secreted into the bowel. Today's study suggests that bile acid diarrhoea is caused by the body producing too much bile acid, because of a deficiency in a hormone called FGF19, which normally switches off bile acid production. The authors of the study say that new hormone-based treatments could be developed in the future to treat the condition and doctors could potentially test people's hormone levels to diagnose it.