Gastroenterology

As hepatitis C becomes a curable condition in many parts of the world research is also showing the financial benefits of allowing once sick patients to resume their normal lives after treatment.

For patients who might need an intestinal transplant the surgery can often be a difficult and not always a permanent process. A new area of research is looking at whether cells can form intestines in the patients without needing the full transplant process.

Following Tuesday's FDA ruling that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) are no longer categorized as "generally recognized as safe," additional research has revealed trans fat consumption could potentially have a negative impact on memory.

The days of patients requesting stacks of paper medical records being sent to a new healthcare professional are largely over in many places. How the information is transmitted and who gets to see that information is now a topic of discussion in the community.

The field of electronic health records has made big advancements in recent years but there is still more work to be done. How that work is done will depend on input not only from the healthcare field but also the patients who use it.

Insurers, regulators and statisticians have long contended that where patients undergo weight loss surgery can be as important as who performs it. A skilled, experienced bariatric surgeon will only perform optimally and patients will only receive ideal post-op care if the center in which he or she works is well-equipped.

Many hospitals around the country are eliminating their paper records all together which is changing the way patient records are shared. This can have a long reach into a patient's life as different parts of their lives depend on having their records to send to various entities.

Now that it has been shown that more control can be given to patients in regards to their electronic health records, the question becomes whether it should be done and how it should be done.

When converting medical records into an electronic form most of the work can be done without much consideration. However, when it comes to observations and other notes by healthcare professionals, how they are included and made available to patients can present the need for more in depth thought.

When deciding how or even if to give patients access to their medical records, a recent study found there are many areas that need to be considered before the access is made available.

When given the choice of what parts of their records patients wanted made available to healthcare professionals, the results showed a mixed reaction to the ability. There were also questions raised about the risks associated with only making the records available to certain people.

Having one of the oldest electronic health record systems in the country the state of Indiana has been at the forefront of the field for close to 30 years. Using those records and networks in the state a group from the Regenstrief Institute looked at how patients might want to control who can see their records.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has determined that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) – the main dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods – are not "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS), giving food manufactures the next three years to remove PHOs from processed food products.

Under the direction of the CNS 7 teams from around the country are looking at best practices for nursing homes in their area. The groups are then pooling their information to see what can be done to improve the life of patients in these facilities and others like them.

People are living well into their 70's and beyond, and as a result the medical community as a whole is being asked to tackle new challenges. This is especially true for nursing homes where patients can require a variety of care on a given day.

Nursing homes across the country have been operating with the same procedures for many years. While a new way of approaching care may take some getting used to and have some initial costs the end result could be beneficial in the long run.

As part of a program run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services centers around the country are taking a closer look at what the nursing home field could look like in the future.

The main component of spicy cinnamon, cinnamaldehyde was recently found to protect colorectal cancer in mice.

Daily vitamin D has been found to potentially aid in Crohn's disease (CD) treatment, according to research published in the journal United European Gastroenterology.

England's National Health Services has increased its budget for new hepatitis C drugs to a whopping £190 million, amounting to nearly 215 million US dollars (at current exchange rates) and more than triple the amount allotted last year.

As the market for Hepatitis C treatments continues to grow, the American Medical Association is calling for the government and payers to do more to ensure new therapies are affordable.

What if obesity isn't necessarily a result of an imbalance in energy consumed compared to energy expended, but a much more complicated problem related to gut microbiota (among other things)?

Although commercial support for continuing medical education has been on the decline since 2008, it nevertheless continues to be a major revenue source for CME providers and a cause for potential concern.

This was a prospective multinational birth cohort study to determine if the age of first gluten introduction was associated with increased risk for celiac disease in genetically predisposed (high risk) children.

Research recently published in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics reveals a new next-generation sequencing (NGS) test to detect genomic mutations in precarious esophageal tissue – potentially improving early detection in individuals with Barrett's esophagus (BE).

Merck has joined the competition to develop the next hepatitis C drug with its submission of a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration for a once-daily pill to treat certain genotypes of the liver-damaging virus

Non evidence-based proton pump inhibitor use should be discontinued in the case of Clostridium difficile infection, according to findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Various degrees of vegetarianism were linked to reduced risk for colorectal cancers, according to findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Recent studies have revealed clues to the role played by the gut microbiome in a variety of diseases and conditions. Now researchers are looking at whether aberrant immune responses triggered by disruptions in the gut microbiome are to blame for multiple sclerosis.

Risk for neuropathy is increased for patients with celiac disease, according to research published in JAMA.