Gastroenterology

While previous studies have touted the benefits of vitamin D and calcium for helping reduce the risk of colon tumors, a recent randomized trial has proven both nutrients fail to aid patients with colon tumors.

Researchers say that identifying HCV transmission hotspots and gaining a more comprehensive understanding of exactly how hepatitis C virus is transmitted during times of significant spread could facilitate public health initiatives to reduce the prevalence of HCV in people who contract it through intravenous drug use.

A joint panel of liver disease experts recently updated industry guidelines for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) to remove priority tables and stick with a recommendation that nearly all patients with chronic infection of the virus be treated with direct-acting drugs.

The British health agency in charge of approving costs for drugs has given the thumbs up to Bristol-Myers Squibb to market its hepatitis C drug to include an indication for patients with genotype 3, reversing its recommendation from earlier this year.

A combination of two drugs can combat one type of pancreatic cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Presentations from the 23rd United European Gastroenterology Week (UEG Week 2015) showed evidence supporting a link between excess body weight and the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC).

AbbVie's hepatitis C antivirals now come with a warning. In a Q&A with MD Magazine, Barry Bernstein, MD, the company's vice president for infectious disease product development, discusses the ramifications. It's not just AbbVie, he says, more post-market reports on other companies drugs are likely coming.

Study results indicate that elevated levels of interleukin–21 may play a role in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis.

The evidence indicates resistant starches improve glucose metabolism beyond what would be expected from its reduced glycemic index.

New research highlights how government estimates on hepatitis C prevalence in the United States leave out about 1 million people from several groups not regularly included in the tally, say researchers from Cornell University.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), has officially classified processed and red meat products like bacon and salami "carcinogenic to humans".

People are very debilitated by these recurrent cycles of infection and FMT gives them their lives back.

Raised lesions of dysplatic Barrett's esophagus (BE) are treated with endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) before ablation. But the procedure causes bleeding in 10% of cases.Mayo Clinic researchers said they found a way to reduce those adverse events.

Treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) in patients with IBD is associated with more hospitalizations, operations, and corticosteroid use.

For patients with underlying advanced liver disease, the hepatitis C infection treatments Viekira Pak (AbbVie) and Technivie (AbbVie) may increase the risk for serious liver injury, according to the FDA.

C. Difficile is big. It has surpassed MRSA as the most common hospital acquired infection.

Patients with pancreatic cancer get surgery and other treatment at an earlier stage, but five-year survival has not improved.

Getting a liver transplant for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) comes with an increased chance of getting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) researchers reported at the American College of Gastroenterology Scientific Meeting in Honolulu, Oct. 16 to 21.

Incidences of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have grown in patients also suffering from autism spectrum disorders (ASD), a neurocognitive disorder characterized by an impaired ability to communicate and interact.

Cultures grown outside the body can promote and restore gut feelings, according to research published in the Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.

Fecal micriobiota transplant has been moving into mainstream medicine even without any randomonized placebo controlled trials showing it works for treating recurrent C. difficile infection. Now a long-awaited trial confirms that it works.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients are less likely to be protected from hepatitis B than their non RA counterparts, according to research presented at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual Congress earlier this year in Rome, Italy.

Altered gut microbes are implicated in an increased susceptibility to C. difficile infection, researchers reported at the American College of Gastroenterology Scientific Meeting in Honolulu.

Some microbes are more associated with specific irritable bowel disease symptoms than others, researchers reporting at the American College of Gastroenterology Scientic Meeting reported.

Treatments for irritable bowel system are proliferating. In addition to new drugs, more drug candidates are entering the approval pipeline. Even as physicians await these new products, their patients are getting into the act by doing internet research and other reading-and tv watching-that has them trying unproven remedies with mixed results.

The American College of Gastroenterology is not optimistic that its staff's lobbying efforts to head off a reduction in the amount Medicare will reimburse physicians for performing a colonoscopy will succeed.

A conversation between ASGE President Douglas Faigel, MD and CMS looks to produce some interesting feedback and clarity in the next two months. Faigel said, "We're starting to win the war on colon cancer and the last thing we want to do is put up barriers for patient Medicare beneficiary access to colonoscopies."

Maintenance of certification (MOC) is a touchy issue for the profession of gastroenterology. Outgoing president of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Stephen Hanauer, MD, has assured members that the organization is confident it has reached an agreement with the ABIM that will "put on hold some of the more burdensome aspects of the 'maintenance' process."

Pancreatic cancer is a difficult disease to treat successfully. For urban African Americans, that picture may be even worse, a Georgia researcher and colleagues found. Their report, subtitled "Too Young, Too Late" was presented today at the American College of Gastroenterology Scientific Meeting in Honolulu.

The numbers are in on studies of a new diagnostic called PancraGen's ability to distinguish pancreatic malignancies from other findings in pancreatic cysts.