What is the Psychosocial Approach to IBS Treatment? with Johannah Ruddy, MEd

11/09/21 • 27 min

Let's Gut Real - Easy to Digest Nutrition Science

We discuss how the psychosocial approach to patient care, which looks at both the psychological and social aspects of a patient’s life, impacts a patient’s symptoms and overall quality of life.

This week I interview Johannah Ruddy on the psychosocial approach to IBS treatment.

Johannah Ruddy is a national expert, researcher, and writer on teaching communications skills to patients and providers and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Rome Foundation. She has 22 years of executive leadership experience working with a variety of non-profit organizations nationwide and a strong background in writing for patients as well as a speaker at GI practices, medical centers, and conferences in the area of provider communication and patient advocacy.

Her new book, co-authored with Dr. Drossman, Gut Feelings- Disorders of Gut-Brain Interactions, A Guide for Patients and Doctors is now available on Amazon.

She holds a Bachelor of science degree from the University of New Mexico in Political Science, a Masters of Education from New Mexico Highlands University and is a doctoral student at Campbell University. She lives in Wake Forest, North Carolina with her husband of 21 years and their two sons.

We talk about:

How Johannah became interested in IBS
Johannah’s own experience with IBS
Johannah’s work as a patient advocate & her current work in disorders of the gut-brain interaction
Frustrations for patients diagnosed with IBS
How to better communicate IBS symptoms with doctors
How clinicians can diagnose and treat IBS and other digestive disorders
How health care providers can properly communicate with patients who have disorders of the gut-brain interaction
Why patient centered care matters and how it can benefit both the doctor and the patient
What IBS patients wish they knew about their diagnosis and the journey?
The relationship between functional diseases and associated stigma
The stigma with IBS? How does disorders of the gut-brain interaction research change that?
Role of stigma in the patient’s acceptance of an IBS diagnosis and their quality of life

Connect with Johannah on Instagram @johannahruddy on Twitter @JohannahRuddy or on LinkedIn. You can find her book: Gut Feelings- Disorders of Gut-Brain Interactions, A Guide for Patients and Doctors which is now available on Amazon: https://romedross.video/GutFeelingsWebsite

We discuss how the psychosocial approach to patient care, which looks at both the psychological and social aspects of a patient’s life, impacts a patient’s symptoms and overall quality of life.

This week I interview Johannah Ruddy on the psychosocial approach to IBS treatment.

Her new book, co-authored with Dr. Drossman, Gut Feelings- Disorders of Gut-Brain Interactions, A Guide for Patients and Doctors is now available on Amazon.

We talk about:

How Johannah became interested in IBS
Johannah’s own experience with IBS
Johannah’s work as a patient advocate & her current work in disorders of the gut-brain interaction
Frustrations for patients diagnosed with IBS
How to better communicate IBS symptoms with doctors
How clinicians can diagnose and treat IBS and other digestive disorders
How health care providers can properly communicate with patients who have disorders of the gut-brain interaction
Why patient centered care matters and how it can benefit both the doctor and the patient
What IBS patients wish they knew about their diagnosis and the journey?
The relationship between functional diseases and associated stigma
The stigma with IBS? How does disorders of the gut-brain interaction research change that?
Role of stigma in the patient’s acceptance of an IBS diagnosis and their quality of life

Previous Episode

What Does My Bloating Mean? with Tamara Duker Freuman, RD

Did you know, how you experience bloating can say a lot about what is going on in your gut? Bloating and distension can give us clues as to what is going on in your gut and how to best help!

This week I interview Tamara Duker Freuman, RD on IBS symptom language and why it's KEY to understanding what a patients bloating means. Plus, we cover different gut disorders and how bloating and distension present with each - getting clear on how to discuss bloating with patients so you can 'sleuth out' what is going on!

Tamara Duker Freuman is a registered dietitian and is nationally known for her expertise in digestive health and medical nutrition therapy for gastrointestinal diseases. She works out of East River Gastroenterology & Nutrition (www.eastrivergastro.com), a private Manhattan-based practice known for its expertise in disorders of the gut-brain axis and specialized diagnostics.

In addition to her clinical work, Tamara is a high-profile nutrition writer whose advice on healthy living and dietary management of digestive disease has been read by hundreds of thousands of people each month.

Tamara is the author of one of my favorite books - The Bloated Belly Whisperer. If you haven’t read it, you absolutely need to. Today, she is here to talk to us about everything bloating related.

We talk about:

Tamara’s background and how she became interested in digestive disorders
The difference between bloating and distension and why they occur
How bloating and distension relate to IBS symptom management
The symptoms of constipation-induced bloating
The symptom of upper gut bloating / early onset bloating
Functional dyspepsia what it is, and how it is different from IBS
The symptoms of impaired gastric accommodation
Whether bloating is always related to food
If ‘I feel bloated’ is the new ‘I feel fat’ and what people should know about the intersection of body image and bloating
Body dysmorphia, how to identify it in patients and the different treatment approaches to consider

Connect with Tamara on her website at www.eastrivergastro.com on Instagram @tamarafreuman or on Twitter or on her Facebook here as well!

Next Episode

Gastroparesis and Digestive Look-Alikes with Dr. Linda Nguyen

Feeling full, nausea and vomiting are all symptoms of gastroparesis, yet other gut conditions can present like this too – so how do we know which it is? This week I interview Dr. Linda Nguyen on gastroparesis and other digestive disorder look-alikes like IBS, functional dyspepsia, cyclic vomiting syndrome and how she works with patients to improve their quality of life.

Dr. Linda Nguyen is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and Clinic Chief in the Digestive Health Center. Her clinical and research interests include GI motility disorders and disorders of gut brain interaction, with an emphasis on gastroparesis, functional dyspepsia and chronic abdominal pain. Her current research includes identifying biomarkers to better diagnose motility disorders, understanding the role/impact of physiologic testing on clinical care, exploring novel therapies for gastroparesis and expanding the role of neuromodulation in the treatment of GI motility disorders and pain. She is also passionate about quality of life, professional development and physician wellness.

We talk about:

How Linda came to work in the field of digestive health and her interest in GI motility and gastroparesis
What gastroparesis is, how it develops, what the symptoms are, and how common it is
The tests for gastroparesis
How patients with gastroparesis develop a change in motility or emptying of their stomach
Treatment options for gastroparesis
Functional dyspepsia, how it similar or different from gastroparesis, and what the symptoms are
Cyclic vomiting syndrome, how it similar or different from gastroparesis, and how is it treated / managed
The use of implanted gastric stimulators for gastroparesis treatment
The nutrition management of gastroparesis

You can learn from Dr. Nguyen on Twitter @ LindaNguyenMD