Thanks so much for all the great questions! It is clear that IBS is so important. We will keep working on this disease. Sorry I could not get to all of you. Hopefully we can do this again soon. I have to go for now…patients to see and research to do….Thanks again! - Dr P Hello Redditors! I’m Dr. Mark Pimentel and I’m here to talk about the bugs in your body! More specifically, I’ll focus on my research on the association between food poisoning (gastroenteritis) and disruption of gut flora, impairment of GI tract motility, and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome – something I’ve been fascinated by and dedicated to studying over the last 20 years. Did you know that around 40 million people suffer from IBS? Despite low federal funding for motility research, there have still been many scientific advancements in this field. My research team has established the concept of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth as a potential cause of irritable bowel syndrome and discovered that methane-producing bacteria in the gut can cause constipation. More about me: I am the Director of the GI Motility Program and Laboratory at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Professor of Medicine (In-residence series) at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I am also the author of a (needing-to-be-revised when there is more time) book called A New IBS Solution: Bacteria-The Missing Link in Treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome. For more background on myself or my research lab, see here. I have been trying out new ways to disseminate information to patients and the public so I’m very excited to be on Reddit doing this AMA today! You can also find me on twitter, facebook, or for more in-depth information at our Global Outreach Symposium on IBS and SIBO in November. While I would love to answer all your questions, I will not be answering any specific patient medical questions due to HIPAA violations. I’ll be back at 1 pm EST (10 am PST, 6 pm UTC) to answer your questions, let’s get to it – AMA!