Abstract
Objective
To demonstrate the benefits of a hyperimmune egg powder supplement for treating irritable bowel syndrome in 2 patients.
Clinical Features
The first patient, not under chiropractic care, had been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome by her primary care physician. She sought care due to failure of several other alternative therapies. Her primary care physician ordered specific dietary modifications, yet this regimen did not appear to improve her symptoms. The second patient, also diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome by her primary care physician, decided to seek care because the attending physician was concurrently treating her for idiopathic scoliosis, and both treatments could be administered at 1 office visit. Her primary reason for seeking this treatment was her longstanding episodic intestinal cramping and diarrhea. She overheard another patient in the same clinic discussing how the hyperimmune egg powder had alleviated her digestive complaints and decided to undergo a 2-week trial of the hyperimmune egg powder.
Intervention and Outcome
The first subject was given a 31- day supply of the hyperimmune egg powder. She reported significant subjective improvement in frequency of defecation and stool consistency after 48 hours. She kept a daily journal to monitor her bowel habits during the trial period. The second subject was provided a 15-day supply of hyperimmune egg powder and instructed to keep the same daily journal to monitor her bowel habits. During the second week of the trial, she noticed less frequent bowel habits and a more solid stool consistency. However, shortly after she stopped taking the hyperimmune egg powder, the pre-trial symptoms returned. Because of this, she was put back on the hyperimmune egg powder, and the symptoms improved thereafter.
Conclusion
The addition of hyperimmune egg powder into an ordinary daily diet may have improved bowel function in 2 subjects, at least subjectively. However, it is unclear whether the subjective improvements are due to the hyperimmune egg powder or any psychosomatic effect created by physician contact, regardless of treatment type. This study should be repeated on a larger scale with a control group before any conclusions are made.
Key Words: MeSH: Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Immunization, Passive Immunity; Non-MeSH: Hyperimmune Egg
References
- 1.Dean KL. Hyperimmune eggs capture natural immune support. Alt Comp Ther. 2000;6:118–124. [Google Scholar]
- 2.Sugita-Konishi Y, Shibata K, Yun Seob S, Hara-Kudo Y, Yamaguchi K, Kumagai S. Immune functions of immunoglobulin Y isolated from egg yolk of hens immunized with various infectious bacteria. Biosci Biotech Biochem. 1996;60:886–888. doi: 10.1271/bbb.60.886. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Pimental M, Chow EJ, Lin HC. Eradication of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth reduces symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Am J Gastroenterol. 2000;95:3503–3506. doi: 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2000.03368.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Guarner F, Malagelada JR. Gut flora in health and disease. Lancet. 2003;361:512–519. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12489-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Van Leeuwen PA, Boermeester MA, Houdjik AP. Clinical significance of translocation. Gut. 1994;35(suppl):S28–S34. doi: 10.1136/gut.35.1_suppl.s28. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6.Carlson E. Irritable bowel syndrome. Nurse Pract. 1998;23:82–91. doi: 10.1097/00006205-199801000-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 7.Hungin AP, Whorwell PJ, Tack J, Mearin F. The prevalence, patterns, and impact of irritable bowel syndrome: an international survey of 40,000 subjects. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2003;17:643–650. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2036.2003.01456.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 8.Ruigomez A, Wallander MA, Johansson S, Garcia Rodriguez LA. One-year follow-up of newly diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome patients. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 1999;13:1097–1102. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2036.1999.00576.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 9.Talley NJ. Irritable bowel syndrome: disease definition and symptom description. Eur J Surg Suppl. 1998;583:24–28. doi: 10.1080/11024159850191193. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 10.Zar S, Kumar D, Benson MJ. Food Hypersensitivity and irritable bowel syndrome. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2001;15:439–449. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2036.2001.00951.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 11.Greenblatt HC, Adalsteinsson O, Kagen L. Administration to arthritis patients of a dietary supplement containing immune egg: An open-label pilot study. J Medicinal Food. 1998;1:171–179. [Google Scholar]
- 12.Karge WH, Deluca JP, Marchitelli LJ, Champagne C, Tulley R, Rood J. Pilot study on the effect of hyperimmune egg protein on elevated cholesterol levels and cardiovascular risk factors. J Medicinal Food. 1999;2:51–63. doi: 10.1089/jmf.1999.2.51. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 13.United States Patent 5,853,765. Anti-cholesterolemic egg, vaccine, and method for production, and use
- 14.Wilborn W, Pierce T, Hyde B, Coleman W, Weaver J, Gaston T, Xiang S-C. Effect of immune egg on serum cholesterol in rabbits on atherogenic diets. (Abstract Only) www.hyperimmuneegg.org
- 15.Jacoby HI, Moore G, Wnorowski G. Inhibition of diarrhea by immune egg: A castor oil mouse model. J Nutra Funct Med Foods. 2001;3:47–53. [Google Scholar]
- 16.United States Patent 5,772,999. Method of preventing, countering, or reducing chronic gastrointestinal disorders or NSAID-induced gastrointestinal damage
- 17.Kuhlmann R, Wiedemann V, Schmidt P, Wanke R, Linckh E, Losch U. Chicken egg antibodies for prophylaxis and therapy of infectious intestinal diseases I. Immunization and antibody determination. J Veterinary Med. 1988;35:610–616. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0450.1988.tb00535.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 18.Johnson RW. Inhibition of growth by pro-inflammatory cytokines: An integrated view. J Animal Sci. 1997;75:1244–1255. doi: 10.2527/1997.7551244x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 19.Johnson RW, Arkins S, Dantzer R, Kelley KW. Hormones, lymphohemopoietic cytokines and the neuroimmune axis. Comp Biochem Phys. 1997;116A:183–201. doi: 10.1016/s0300-9629(96)00277-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 20.Ross R. Atherosclerosis-an inflammatory disease. New Eng J Med. 1999;340:115–126. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199901143400207. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 21.Luster AD. Chemokines-chemotactic cytokines that mediate inflammation. New Eng J Med. 1998;338:436–445. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199802123380706. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]