Associate Professor of Medicine Director, GI Physiology Laboratory Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine Ann Arbor, MI
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IBS can be a highly debilitating condition that negatively affects a person’s quality of life. The recent emergence of digital tools designed to help patients and caregivers better manage IBS and functional GI disorders has facilitated the formation of a new health care model with an ever-evolving landscape. These tools range from mobile apps, virtual health platforms, and wearable devices, to the use of AI and digital therapeutics.
These tools serve several purposes—such as telehealth services, symptom tracking, food journals, cognitive behavioral therapy, gut-directed hypnotherapy, and patient education—and can help increase patients’ access to safe, effective treatments.1,2 Further, AI-driven tools can assist health care providers in facilitating more accurate diagnoses and creating more personalized treatment plans.
Regular exercise, stress management, and low-FODMAP (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols) dietary strategies are often recommended as nonpharmacologic approaches to IBS management.3-6 With the assistance of digital tools, patients can not only receive care, but also gain disease-specific knowledge, self-manage their diet, track physical activity, monitor stress and IBS symptoms remotely, and improve their quality of life with this new and expanding type of health care model.
