Leaky Gut Syndrome

Leaky Gut Syndrome, a diagnostic entity is a gastronomical disorder. It is the disorder that is very famous in most of the branches of alternative medicines and is characterized by increased permeability of intestinal lining, hence rightly called as ‘Leaky Gut.’ To understand leaky Gut Syndrome, it is of utmost importance that we should take a look at the anatomy and physiology of our intestine.

Gastro Intestinal Tract
Technically, gastro intestinal tract is considered outside of the body. It is having tubular shape with two openings- one is at mouth another at anus. As the skin provides a protection from external environment, tubing of GI tract provides protection to ingested material. GI tract has numerous basic functions. At first, it digests the ingested food, and then it absorbs the bi-products of digestion into molecules of energy and proteins. These proteins, vitamins, and mineral s are transported across the mucosal lining of intestine into the blood. It also performs detoxification of hazardous by-products of digestion. It contains immunoglobins and anti bodies which play major role in the defence mechanism of body.

Physiology
In healthy conditions, GI tract absorbs and transmits molecules that are by-products of digestion process. These molecules can be of amino acids, sugar, vitamins, fatty acids, or minerals which are required by the body for proper functioning of life process. GI tract have got a barrier in form of its intestinal lining.

The transmission process across this lining is carried out by means of two ways depending on the size of these molecules. Small molecules (size up to 5000 Daltons) are transmitted across the intestinal lining with help of carrier proteins, a specific type of proteins present in intestine. This carrier protein gets bound with the small molecules of minerals, vitamins, and transmits them across the epithelium by active mechanism of transmission.

Larger molecules (size more than 5000 Daltons up to 9200daltons) are transferred by means of passive mechanism. This passive mechanism uses the intercellular path ways or spaces commonly known as Desmosomes. The process is called as ‘endocytosis’. Desmosomes are tight junction spaces present in between epithelium cells which don’t allow the larger molecules of unwanted material to cross the lining.
Due to some reasons this normal function of permeability of intestinal lining gets disrupted and leaky gut syndrome occurs.

Inflammation of Gastro Intestinal Tract
Due to varied reasons GI tract gets inflamed and it fails to absorb nutrients and foods properly in the blood stream. Fatigue and bloating are the common symptoms visible. As the permeability function of intestine get disrupt, it allows larger food particles along with antibodies in blood stream. It results in food allergies and new symptoms. The carrier proteins get damaged which results in nutrient deficiency. Due to the malfunctioning of detoxification pathways chemical sensitivity poses a problem which leads to the alarming level of toxins and overburdens the liver. Due to the inflammation to the protective coating of immunoglobins A of epithelium lining immune mechanism of body gets adversely affected. This condition is known as Leaky Gut.

Leaky Gut Syndrome further triggers emergence of antibodies and various diseases related to them. When the intestinal epithelial lining becomes more permeable, even larger substances like toxins, undigested food particles, disease-causing bacteria pass directly through the dented cells. The immune mechanism is alarmed and cytokines, the antibodies are released. The released Cytokines stimulate white blood corpuscles to fight the foreign particles which results in production of oxidants. This causes irritation and inflammation throughout the body.

Symptoms of Leaky gut syndrome / Intestinal permeability
Symptoms include: asthma, abdominal pain, indigestion, chronic joint pain, chronic muscle pain, poor immunity, foggy thinking, confusion, gas, mood swings, and nervousness. It also gives rise to poor memory, anxiety, fatigue, recurrent vaginal infections, skin rashes, diarrhea, bed-wetting, recurrent bladder infections, constipation, shortness of breath, bloating, aggressive behavior, feeling toxic.

Leaky Gut syndrome is also associated with numerous other diseases as it hampers the function of immune mechanism. The diseases associated are- Autoimmune disease, Hives, Pancreatic insufficiency, Inflammatory joint disease /arthritis, Chronic fatigue syndrome, Ulcerative colitis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Liver dysfunction, Food allergies and sensitivities, Irritable bowel syndrome.

Causes
Intestinal infections can be a major cause for occurrence of leaky gut syndrome. If there is an accelerated growth of bacteria in small intestine then it can prove fetal. Environmental contaminants like toxic metals are also one of the major causes of disease. Poor diet, chronic stress and side effects of non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs contribute towards the cause of leaky gut syndrome.

Diagnosis
"Mannitol and lactulose tests" are the principle tool of diagnosis. Both being water soluble molecules that body can’t use; mannitol is the one which can be absorbed by healthy intestine while lactulose is a larger molecule and cannot be absorbed by intestinal lining. This tests aims at finding out the amount of absorption of these two molecules by means of urine analysis after six hours.

Treatment
Altered intestinal permeability remains the principle cause and thankfully there are numerous nutrients and herbs are present, that help to reduce inflammation of gut. Stress reduction therapies can be very effective in the treatment. It is essential to restore the healthy ecology of gut.
1. Nutrients like glutamine (amino acid), which is essential for production of intestinal mucus and secretary immunoglobins, Vitamin A for production of antibodies, Zinc for growth and healing of epithelial cells play major role in treatment.
2. Herbs like Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice, Silymarin or milk thistle, Aloe, Slippery Elm are used more commonly an effectively to heal the damaged lining of intestinal wall.
3. Stress reduction therapy offers much more relief as there is a strong connection between brain and activities of digestive system.