How gravity may cause irritable bowel syndrome

A new theory suggests irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the most common gastrointestinal disorder, may be caused by gravity.

Brennan Spiegel, MD, MSHS, director of Health Services Research at Cedars-Sinai and author of the hypothesis, explains that IBS—and many other conditions—could result from the body’s inability to manage gravity.

“As long as there’s been life on Earth, from the earliest organisms to Homo sapiens, gravity has relentlessly shaped everything on the planet,” said Spiegel, who is also a professor of Medicine.