Habba syndrome is not new, but has only been recognized as a disease since the early 2000s. It gets its name from Dr. Saad Habba, who began to study patients who suffered from chronic diarrhea, particularly occurring after meals, to determine if causes other than irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) might account for this condition in a certain percentage of these patients, especially those who did not respond to the normal treatments for IBS. In 2000, Dr. Habba published his first finding, suggesting that a certain condition could be mistaken for IBS but had completely different causes, relating to abnormal contractions of the gallbladder, and the name Habba syndrome become associated with Dr. Habba’s findings.

The symptoms of Habba syndrome are usually chronic, watery diarrhea that can occur directly after meals and is not generally associated with significant cramping, a hallmark of IBS. Symptoms will often go away if people fast, not the case with IBS, and don’t respond well to usual IBS treatments. The syndrome can make it embarrassing for people, as diarrhea may be difficult to control, and people may try to abstain from eating because of the clear connection between food consumption and bouts of diarrhea. Chronic diarrhea may also lead to poor absorption of needed nutrients, and some people may feel fatigued or ill at all times, and not be able to lead normal lives.

According to Dr. Habba’s studies, what appears to be occurring is gallbladder dysfunction, and his initial studies showed poor function of the gallbladder, which creates a situation similar to that when people have had gallbladder removal. Treatment for most people doesn’t necessitate actually removing the gallbladder to improve symptoms. Instead, most people with recognized Habba syndrome are given medications that lower cholesterol, and this may completely resolve the problem, though treatment can take a few weeks to be fully effective. Ironically, this treatment has already been in place for numerous years to address the symptoms that occur when people have had their gallbladders removed.

The reason that discovery of Habba syndrome is so significant is because there are so many people currently diagnosed with IBS who may have Habba instead. Though this disease is still considered newly discovered, patients who have been unresponsive to traditional treatment methods for IBS may not be responding to treatment because they’re really suffering from gallbladder dysfunction, and most treatments for IBS do nothing to address this. For those people who have symptoms that seem to fit Habba instead of IBS, it could certainly be worthwhile to see if a trial on medications that lower cholesterol change or resolves chronic diarrhea, since scans of the gallbladder don’t always show dysfunction.