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Digestive Diseases and Sciences

08-03-2025 | Irritable Bowel Syndrome | Invited Commentary

It’s a Women’s World: A New Look at Sex Differences in Patients with the Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Authors: Madison R. Heath, Zlatan Mujagic, Yuying Luo, Daniel Keszthelyi

Published in: Digestive Diseases and Sciences

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Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) exhibits significant sex differences. The female predominance in its worldwide prevalence and variations in symptomatology, treatment efficacy, and adverse effects all may arise from differences in pathophysiology. Due to entrenched historical biases, only recently have studies considered biological differences between the sexes that could affect the understanding of IBS. In this commentary, inspired by a study published in the Digestive Diseases and Sciences, the authors not only focus on different aspects of sexual dimorphism in IBS but also elaborate on the challenges that arise from studying female physiology and its temporal changes in relation to disease characteristics and treatment outcomes.
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Metadata
Title
It’s a Women’s World: A New Look at Sex Differences in Patients with the Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Authors
Madison R. Heath
Zlatan Mujagic
Yuying Luo
Daniel Keszthelyi
Publication date
08-03-2025
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Digestive Diseases and Sciences
Print ISSN: 0163-2116
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2568
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-025-08965-5
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