Women of reproductive age are more likely than other people to report gut problems like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and can feel dismissed by doctors, as clinicians often put the pain down to diet, stress or hormones.
It was never just “in their heads.” A complex interplay between an important hormone, chemical signals, rare populations of gut cells and the output of gut bacteria could explain why, researchers report December 18 in Science. While the findings are in mice, they suggest new opportunities for treatment.
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