Case+about+Sorbitol

Sorbitol is a natural laxative and occurs in pears, prunes and other fruits. In fact sorbitol solution is sold as a laxative through pharmacies. Sorbitol is also thought to be a cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Most sugar-free products carry warnings like: Excess consumption can have a laxative effect. However, the packs are so small that reading them is difficult, and more importantly the term excess usage is not explained or quantified. **//Dateline June 1995//**: The Lancet publishes the case of a 35 year-old Flight Attendant diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. She is admitted to a British Hospital and undergoes a series of gruelling tests: 14 procedures including blood tests, biopsies, liver biochemistry, gastroscopy, endoscopy and periods of supervised fasting. Finally it turned out to cause diarrhea (up to ten watery motions per day) is the result of habitual use of sugar-free chewing gum containing sorbitol. This is despite clinical results published twelve years earlier (Gastroenterology January 1983) from the Hartford Hospital and University of Connecticut warning that sorbitol causes gastro-intestinal distress in amounts as little as 10g per day. **//Dateline June 2003://** Popular sugar-free fruit pastilles, mints and chewing gum contain sorbitol in rather large amounts (42% - 50%). This means a single tiny 25g purse-pack of fruit pastilles contains easily enough Sorbitol to cause gastro-intestinal distress and diarrhea and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. And with chewing gum there is even greater danger of sorbitol overdose. Dan dengan permen karet ada bahaya yang lebih besar bahkan overdosis sorbitol. The manufacturer of a gum marketed as a teeth whitener (6) encourages consumers to use it many times in a day, presumably to glean as much of the tooth brightening property as possible. Ironically this is claimed by the manufacturer to be a healthy lifestyle activity.
 * Case about Sorbitol **

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