Gastroenterology

Measuring 2 qualities in about a minute can determine how easily patients will recover after major surgery, according to research in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

The US Food and Drug Association (FDA) granted approval for eluxadoline (Viberzi) and rifaximin (Xifaxan), to treat irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) in adult men and women.

Researchers from the University of Michigan say a new model that uses routine laboratory tests and machine-learning methods to better predict hepatitis C progression can be used to guide patients and doctors through important treatment decisions.

Besides being the most common cause of chronic liver disease in industrialized nations, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has serious hepatic consequences. It is expected to be the most frequent indication for liver transplantation by 2030.

A salmonella outbreak traced back to sushi made with raw tuna has infected a total of 53 individuals so far.

With the help of a 3-D printer researchers are working on developing a new overtube that can be used during endoscopic submucosal dissection.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals has joined forces with Janssen Pharmaceuticals to develop a short-duration oral regimen to treat chronic hepatitis C, the companies announced.

In most cases when a patient undergoes a biopsy on their esophagus any cancer found is located too late to be treated. A recent development could help doctors find the disease before it is too late.

Implanting an electrical stimulating device to help patients with gastroparesis is less successful when patients also suffer from depression, anxiety, or other mental health problems, a Texas team reports.

Obesity associated with metabolic syndrome can be treated when patients adhere to a high-protein diet, a team of researchers from University of California, Los Angeles found.

There are medications which can all but cure hepatitis C but for those patients who have not yet beaten the condition there is research that shows a link to developing cancer.

As work continues to be done to find the best ways to use new technology the question of what the next advancement will be is already setting the stage for the future of patient care.

Patients with long-standing ulcerative colitis have shown signs of being more at risk for developing cancer. Research has looked at why that is the case and what can be done to prevent the cancer from progressing.

Patients with gastroparesis may be helped with a combination of gastric electrical stimulation and surgery to widen the pylorus, a Texas team reports.

Gastroenterologist Venkat Subramanian, MD, discusses the use of high-definition screens and dyes during endoscopy to detect cancerous and noncancerous lesions in patients with ulcerative colitis

Patients who are obese may have a genetic makeup that causes their stomachs to empty faster than those of normal-weight people. Investigators say there is a drug that can help.

Treating hepatitis C with new antivirals saves lives and-in the long run-money spent on patient care. But some patients and their physicians are learning there are barriers to getting prescriptions approved by patients' insurance carriers.

African Americans are more likely to be infected with the hepatitis C virus than Caucasians. But that does not mean they are more likely to die from the disease, researchers reported at the 2015 Digestive Disease Week conference in Washington, DC.

A relatively higher rate of hepatitis C infection in US adults considered to be part of the baby boom generation is starting to decline, researchers report. The statistical drop started the year after a CDC push for all US adults to get tested.

A recent study found that while most insurers are paying for the new hepatitis C antivirals, disparities exist. More than 20% of patients at the hospital studied who had private insurance were refused their prescriptions for sofosbuvir with simeprevir, the researchers found.

A drug that shows promise in protecting the human gut microbiome from antiobiotic assaults that can lead to C. difficile infection is about to enter Phase 2 trials. So far, it has worked well in lab pigs, researchers said at Digestive Disease Week 2015.

Preventing the replication of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) may be a future reality thanks to an important exploration.

Reporting at the 2015 Digestive Disease Week conference in Washington, DC, a research team from Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas, found that colonoscopy has the edge over upper endoscopy in fecal microbiota transplant.

Transplanting a healthy person's fecal microbiota into the digestive tract of a patient believed to have a recurrent C. difficile infection has gone from obscurity to an accepted treatggggment. But a new study finds it was wrongly proposed for more than 25% of patients referred for treatment.

The proximal and distal colon act like two different organs when it comes to biological function and the microbiota that live there. The difference is seen even at the gene transcriptional level and response to vitamin D, a team of researchers from the University of Chicago reported.

Some intestinal bacteria cause more pain than others in patients with irritable bowel syndrome, according to study results reported by a team of researchers from North Carolina.

With the incidence and severity of Clostridium difficile infection increasing every year, the growing acceptance of fecal transplant as a viable treatment may mean stool banks will become as common as sperm and blood banks.

For patients with C. difficile infection, fecal micriobiota transplantation may be their best bet when medication is not effective. Even as transplant becomes a more accepted approach for treating C. diff infection, researchers are investigating other areas it can be applied to.

There may be no shortage of stool around the world, but finding potential donors for fecal micriobiota transplant is a much more involved process. Research has shown that only 4% of people are viable for the process.

For anyone who has undergone a colonoscopy the worst part of the procedure is usually the preparation. Between the fluids that need to be ingested and the necessary fasting, it can be a long process before ever seeing the doctor. A recent pilot study looked at ways to change that.