In The News

Black patients and men less likely to receive a formal IBS diagnosis

A national survey study led by UCLA Health and Cedars Sinai Medical Center found significant disparities in the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) across sex and racial groups in the United States. The study showed that men and Black patients are considerably less likely than women and white patients to receive a formal IBS diagnosis. The study’s senior author, Lin Chang, MD, professor of medicine, said the research aimed to examine whether disparities exist in both health care–seeking behavior and IBS diagnosis based on sex, race, and ethnicity among U.S. adults. While health care disparities have been documented for other gastrointestinal conditions, IBS has remained largely understudied in this context. The findings highlight important gaps in diagnosis that may contribute to inequities in care and underscore the need for greater awareness and more equitable evaluation of IBS across patient populations. Read more in UCLA Health News Additional coverage in Bioengineer and Science Magazine (April 2026)

A low-carb diet may help IBS as much as tricky elimination diets, and more than drugs

Dietary changes relieved abdominal pain and other symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome more effectively than medications, a new study shows. Seven of 10 study participants reported significant reductions in IBS symptoms after adopting either a type of elimination diet called the FODMAP diet or the simpler-to-follow, low-carb diet. Lin Chang, MD, health sciences professor of medicine, said the study supports the long-term benefits of diet in treating IBS. And the study informed her that a low-carb diet, high in protein and fat, could reduce IBS symptoms. “That was new,” she said. But she believes the study might have biased diet over medicine. “It wasn’t completely a fair comparison,” said Chang, who wasn’t involved with the study. Read the NPR article  (May 2024)

Navigating common GI symptoms

There is a wide range of gastrointestinal conditions, and their symptoms, severity, and types are often misunderstood. From bloating to chronic diarrhea, how do we know when to seek medical advice for something more serious? What are the various diagnoses? What are red flags to look out for? Lin Chang, MD, co-director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, provides expert commentary. Listen to this WebMD podcast  (June 2024)

What’s the best way to treat IBS?

A new study published in The Lancet suggests that certain dietary changes may be more effective than medication. Dr. Chang provided expert commentary and stated for some, a combination of diet and medication may work best. Read full New York Times article (subscription required) What’s the best way to treat IBS? (April 2024)

Diet may be better than medicine for easing symptoms of IBS

Research has found that a low-FODMAP diet -- which involves avoiding foods like wheat products, legumes, some nuts, certain sweeteners, most dairy products and many fruits and vegetables -- can reduce IBS symptoms in most people. For some, a combination of diet and medication may work best, says Lin Chang, MD, professor of medicine. Read United Press International article Diet may be better than medicine for easing symptoms of IBS. (APril 2024)

Doctors break the silence on stress and diarrhea: What they want you to know

Andrea S. Shin, MD, MSCR, health sciences associate clinical professor of medicine, and other GI experts explain why stress is an under-the-radar trigger of GI upset. Plus, they reveal how to get speedy, natural relief from diarrhea and share their simple, stress-busting tricks to thwart future flare ups in this First for Women article. (November 2023)

Magnesium for constipation: How it works, the best type to take, and when to see a doctor

Doctors say magnesium can be a helpful constipation reliever. In fact, the mineral shows up in a slew of medications designed to ease constipation, as well as in some foods. Andrea S. Shin, MD, MSCR, health sciences associate clinical professor of medicine, provides expert commentary in Women’s Health about using magnesium for constipation, plus when to see your doctor if you’re struggling to go. (November 2023)

Is “leaky gut” real? It’s more complicated than you think

Many websites have posted warnings about a condition called “leaky gut,” claiming it can cause depression, anxiety, autoimmune disorders — such as chronic fatigue, eczema, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, joint pain, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis — and other disorders. But is it real? Is it dangerous? And can you prevent it? Dr. Andrea Shin, health sciences associate clinical professor of medicine, provides expert commentary in this Good World News. (November 2023)

Is IBS hereditary?

Gastrointestinal diseases may not be solely related to one’s diet. Emeran A. Mayer, MD, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, provides commentary in The Science Times on a new study that reveals genetics could significantly affect GI disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome. (August 2023)

11 ways to relieve bloating fast

A swollen, bloated abdomen can make your whole body feel heavy and weigh down your mood. While there are many smart strategies for preventing bloating, sometimes it happens, and you just want to feel better fast. Didi Mwengela, MD, health sciences assistant clinical professor of medicine, and Suzanne R. Smith, MSN, NP, CMT-P, integrative nurse practitioner, discuss causes of bloating and anti-bloat tips in this AARP article. (August 2023)

How do you treat IBS with overlapping disorders?

Dr. Lin Chang, professor of medicine, continues to interview irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) experts for the Medscape inDiscussion: Irritable Bowel Syndrome podcast series. Dr. Chang discusses treating IBS with overlapping disorders with Magnus Simrén, MD, PhD, professor of gastroenterology at the Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenske Academy at the University of Gothenburg. Listen to How do you treat IBS with overlapping disorders (August 2023)

Could there be a link between meditation and gut health? It's complicated

Researchers recently flew the fecal samples of 37 Buddhists from monasteries high in the Tibetan mountains to a lab in Shanghai. The purpose for this high-altitude journey? To see how the composition of the monks’ samples — markers of their gut health — differed from that of their neighbors. The researchers wondered if the monks’ daily meditation practices might have an impact on the microbiome. “If relaxation and stress reduction and meditation decrease sympathetic nervous system tone and reactivity, then I think that will be the most possible explanation for changes in microbiome,” states Dr. Emeran A. Mayer, professor of medicine, physiology and psychiatry. Read the Well + Good article Could There Be a Link Between Meditation and Gut Health? It’s Complicated (July 2023)

The low-FODMAP diet, explained

The Low-FODMAP diet can relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but it isn’t right for everyone. “Candidates include IBS patients who regularly consume high-FODMAP foods and who notice that their symptoms worsen after meals,” says Dr. Lin Chang, professor of medicine. Read more the New York TImes article The Low-FODMAP Diet, Explained (July 2023)

Effective pharmacology for IBS-C, IBS-D and IBS-mixed

Dr. Lin Chang, professor of medicine, continues to interview irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) experts for the Medscape inDiscussion: Irritable Bowel Syndrome podcast series. In episode four, Dr. Chang discusses effective pharmacotherapy for IBS-C, IBS-D and IBS-mixed with Anthony Lembo, MD, vice chair of research for Cleveland Clinic's Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute. (June 2023)

UCLA GI dietitians prompt multidisciplinary task force to offer comprehensive treatment for dysautomia

UCLA Health’s newly assembled dysautonomia task force makes UCLA one of just a few places on the West Coast that offers comprehensive treatment for the illness. Nancee Jaffe, MS, RDN, lead GI dietitian, and her colleagues noticed they were getting many referrals for patients diagnosed with dysautonomia. “We kept ending up with patients who were either coming straight to us or they were going to a gastroenterologist, getting diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, and ended up with us,” Jaffe says. “However, we knew there were other things going on when they would talk about their blood pressure dropping or having trouble breathing. We reached out to cardiology and neurology and that’s how we ended up building this task force,” Jaffe explains. “Now, we have a team of over 20 doctors, dietitians and nurses at UCLA. Before, these patients didn’t have a referral network. Now we are that referral network.” Read UCLA Health addresses post-pandemic emergence of illnesses affecting the autonomic nervous system. (May 2023)

Treating postinfection and post-COVID irritable bowel syndrome

Dr. Lin Chang, professor of medicine, continues to interview irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) experts for the Medscape inDiscussion: Irritable Bowel Syndrome podcast series. Listen to Treating postinfection and post-COVID irritable bowel syndrome with Madhu Grover, MBBS, associate professor of medicine and physiology and consultant in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. (April 2023)

IBS World Day 2023 podcasts

April 21 was IBS World Day. Dr. Lin Chang, professor of medicine, interviewed IBS experts for the Medscape inDiscussion: Irritable Bowel Syndrome podcast series. There will be a total of six interviews and the first two were (1) How to Provide Biopsychosocial IBS Care in Your Clinic with Dr. Doug Drossman and (2) It's Complicated: Food & IBS with Dr. William B. Chey. Listen to podcasts here (April 2023)

7 foods that cause belly bloating

Bloating, a sensation of fullness in your abdomen, is a tricky topic, says Lin Chang, MD, professor of medicine. “Bloating is such a common symptom that can be associated with multiple different diseases or disorders,” she explains, that it is often not used in diagnostic criteria, as it doesn’t help distinguish one condition from another. Read the AARP article 7 foods that cause belly bloating (March 2023)

Pandemic stress and IBS

Our UCLA GI clinic map has been updated to reflect the following: "The pandemic created an environment of uncertainty, isolation and less access to supportive resources that people depended on for well-being," says Suzanne R. Smith, MSN, NP, CMT-P, a nurse practitioner at UCLA's Integrative Digestive Health and Wellness Program. The program combines diet and stress management, and Smith helps patients understand the brain-gut connection in IBS. Listen to the 6-minute broadcast including patient interview or read transcript on NPR (April 2022)

The rewards and risks of probiotics

Emeran A. Mayer, MD, director, G. Oppenheimer Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Berkeley Limketkai, MD, PhD, director of clinical research, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, were quoted in an article on The Rewards and Risks of Probiotics. The article ran in the Summer 2019 issue of Time Health.(Summer 2019)

Can changes to our gut bacteria change our behavior?

In a BBC Radio 4 series called The Second Genome, Kirsten Tillisch, MD, discussed UCLA’s research into how the microbiome is implicated in the expression of mood, emotion and behavior. Dr. Tillisch, an associate professor of medicine in the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, appears in the “Gateway to the Mind” episode from 19:00-22:14. She also is quoted in a BBC News online article on the same topic, which was syndicated in Huffington Post Mexico. (April 2018)

20 foods that turn back your metabolic clock

An Eat This, Not That! story on nutrition and the metabolic clock referenced UCLA research on the impact of probiotics in yogurt on brain health. Kirsten Tillisch, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, led the research. MSN also published the story. (March 2017)

The link between the gut microbiome and emotion

Psychology Today, UPI, The Daily Mail, International Business Times, Yahoo! News, Science World Report, Breitbart.com, PsychCentral, IFLScience, Australia’s Nine, Now to Love, MedicalXpress, New Zealand's Now to Love, JSTOR Daily and New Zealands' Fashion Quarterly and 20 network television affiliates including KTLA-TV; KTXL-TV, Sacramento, California; WTTV-TV, Indianapolis; WTXR-TV, Norfolk, Virginia; and WBIR-TV, Knoxville, Tennessee, reported on research led by Dr. Kirsten Tillisch identifying gut microbiota that may interact with brain regions associated with mood and behavior. Tillisch is associate professor of medicine in the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases. (June 2017)

18 best probiotic products for gut health & 20 foods that turn back your metabolic clock

Eat This, Not That! and MSN referenced a study conducted by the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience at UCLA about how probiotics in yogurt affect brain function. (August 2017)

Why you should 'rewild' your diet to help your microbiome

BigThink interviewed Dr. Emeran A. Mayer for a story about how diet affects the gut microbiome. Mayer is director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and co-director of the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center. (July 2017)

Your digestive issues could be starting in your brain

The Zoe Report and Yahoo! Style referenced Dr. Emeran A. Mayer's research in a story about how digestive issues are related to the brain. Dr. Mayer is the director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and co-director of the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center. (July 2017)

Yes, getting dirty can act as a natural antidepressant - Here's why

Dr. Emeran A. Mayer, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and co-director of the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, was quoted in Reader’s Digest story about the link between gut bacteria and depression. (2017)

A traumatic experience can reshape your microbiome

New York Magazine’s “Science of Us” on June 1 and Medical Daily on June 6 reported on research suggesting an association between gut microbiota and the brain regions involved in processing sensory information. Dr. Emeran A. Mayer, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and co-director of the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, was the study’s senior author. MSN.com carried the Medical Daily story on June 7. (June 2017)

Dirt has a microbiome, and it may double as an antidepressant

Dr. Emeran A. Mayer, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and co-director of CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, was quoted May 30 in a Quartz story on bacteria in dirt. (May 2017)

Link between gut microbiota and brain regions

Newsweek and Health Canal on May 10; Bioscience Technology and PsychCentral on May 8; ScienceAlert on May 6, and ScienceDaily, MedicalXpress and News-Medical.Net on May 5 reported on research suggesting an association between gut microbiota and the brain regions involved in processing sensory information. The research also shed light on the connections among childhood trauma, brain development the composition of the gut microbiome. Study senior author Dr. Emeran A. Mayer, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and co-director of the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, was quoted in some of the coverage. (May 2017)

How antibiotics harm the gut microbiome

Time and Health.com on May 3 published a story about how antibiotics affect our gut health that featured Dr. Emeran A. Mayer, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and co-director of the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center. (May 2017

Where IBS and sex differences converge

MedPage Today on April 13 published a story about UCLA research on sex differences in IBS. Dr. Lin Chang, professor of medicine, was involved with the study and was quoted. (April 2017)

Probiotics in yogurt can affect brain function

Eat This, Not That and Yahoo! Style referenced March 28 a study conducted by the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience at UCLA finding that probiotics in yogurt can affect brain function. (March 2017)

What we know about probiotics and brain function

Various media outlets covered UCLA research finding that probiotics in yogurt are linked to brain function in humans. Kirsten Tillisch, MD, co-director, neuroimaging core, G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, and Emeran A. Mayer, MD, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, and co-director of the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, conducted the research. (March 2017)

• KQED.org on March 13 published a story about probiotics and depression, referencing the study and quoting both Drs. Tillisch and Mayer.
• The Daily Progress on March 10 mentioned the study in a story about new research on yogurt bacteria’s role in depression in mice; the story was syndicated March 11 by Richmond.com, March 14 by Life Extension, and two other outlets.

The diet principles that stand the test of time

Food Matters published an article Jan. 8 by Emeran A. Mayer, MD about the gut microbiome and longstanding dietary principles. Dr. Mayer is director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, and co-director of the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center. (January 2017)

Los Angeles Times spotlights Mind-Gut Connection

Emeran A. Mayer, MD and his new book, "The Mind-Gut Connection," were featured July 8 in a Los Angeles Times Q&A. Dr. Mayer, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience at UCLA and co-director of the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, explains how trillions of microbes living in our intestines have a running dialogue between the brain and gut that play a role in our stress levels, sickness and recovery. The article was also picked up by the Centre Daily Times July 9 and Sci-Tech Today July 11, and an excerpt from his book was published July 5 in mind bodygreen. (July 2016)

Dr. Mayer is recipient of the American Psychosomatic Society, Paul D. MacLean Award for Outstanding Neuroscience Research in Psychosomatic Medicine

Paul MacLean was a physician whose visionary neuroscientific research career at Yale Medical School and NIMH was inspired by his recognition of the importance of emotion in clinical medicine and everyday life. In 1949, he hypothesized that psychosomatic disorders arose from impairment in communication between the limbic system and neocortex. This award is intended to honor Dr. MacLean and promote the line of research that he created on emotion, the brain and physical disease. Congratulations to Emeran A. Mayer, MD, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience. (2016)

Video: "Health Promoting Effects of the Mediterranean Diet and Olive Oil"

There is strong epidemiological evidence supporting the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet for the prevention of a variety of diseases, ranging from cardiovascular disease, cancer and even degenerative diseases of the brain. The Mediterranean diet is characterized by a high proportion of fruits, vegetables and nuts, a low proportion of red meat and a near absence of animal fats. In addition to the high fiber and low fat content, an important component of the Mediterranean diet are so called polyphenols or antioxidants contained in olive oil and red wine. Emeran A. Mayer, MD, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, has a strong interest in the effect of the Mediterranean diet on the gut microbiome brain interactions in health and disease. He has collaborated with Marco Cavalieri, a well-known producer of extra virgin olive oil in the Marche region of Italy, where olives are harvested from 800 year old trees. Cavalieri and Mayer discussed the topic of olive oil and health at a recent event organized by the Azzura Foundation in West Los Angeles. Olive Oil: Understanding Our Oil From Soil to its Soul (2015)

Dr. Emeran A. Mayer featured in the documentary In Search of Balance

The documentary, In Search of Balance, looks at our health problems from a new perspective, one based on an understanding of how our health and ultimately our destiny as a species are inextricably intertwined with the natural world. In Search of Balance explores a vision of health, science and nature that recognizes the importance of the interconnections between us, the food we consume, how we produce that food and the natural world at large including the mysterious, invisible world of the human microbiome. Emeran A. Mayer, MD, director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience is featured as an expert in the documentary and functioned as its co-producer. The film has already been screened at a number of national film festivals. In Search of Balance (2015)

When gut bacteria changes brain function

The Atlantic ran an article on June 24, 2015 highlighting research by Emeran A. Mayer, MD, PhD, that stated researchers believe that the microbiome may play a role in regulating how people think and feel. (June 2015)