Latest Conference Articles

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.

It's a constant question of whether physician decision making has benefitted the patients or not.

The molecular test PancraGen helps identify false negative cases that could be missed by first-line tests like imaging, cytology and fluid chemistry.

The effective arsenal of antivirals for hepatitis C just keeps getting bigger and better. Speaking at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting in Honolulu, experts are anticipating new drugs that will work for all six hepatitis virus genotypes. Meanwhile, matching patients to drugs can be complicated.

IBS patients are great, because many times they come to you frustrated they don't have a "diagnosis".

The probiotics didn't work well enough to cure patients, but the stool transplants miraculously did.

The guy microbiome is being studied across the healthcare spectrum as more is learned about this part of a person's anatomy. What it could mean for the treatment of multiple sclerosis has yet to be determined.

Pennies, chicken bones, and dishwasher cleaning powders. Gastroenterologists who work at hospitals are likely to get called in when people either accidentally or purposefully swallow something they should not. At the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting in Honolulu, a physician at NYU Langone Medical Center offered a treatment primer.

All physicians want to deliver quality care. But do the checklists required to measure quality really add up to giving patients the results they want? As the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting gets underway in Honolulu, the question came up in the context of managing irritable bowel disease.

There are many factors that can contribute to a person's condition with multiple sclerosis. A recent study looked at what role melatonin can play in the process.

Pancreatic cancer is hard to cure and even diagnosing it is challenging. Among the eagerly awaiting research topics to be presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii are reports on new developments in detecting malignancies.

Earlier this year the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers held its annual conference in Indianapolis with more than 2000 people in attendance. All with the same goal of improving the care they provide their patients with this difficult disease.

There are many factors that patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis need to consider when managing their condition. While the physical symptoms can be the highest priority, quality of life is an area which is gaining greater recognition in the field.

As the number of treatment options for multiple sclerosis continues to grow patients and their doctors are left to find the right choice for them in order to manage the disease as successfully as possible. This can be a long process that can have a long lasting impact on their overall health.

Tecfidera has been on the market for a few years to help treat relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis and through extended studies and watching the market positive results have been seen by patients using the oral treatment.

More than three-quarters of intravenous drug users and Baby Boomers tested for hepatitis C were positive and unaware they were infected, according to results of a study published in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine.

Even as more medications are developed for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis patients those with the primary progressive form have been left waiting for news on their condition. According to recent studies the first step in that process may soon be coming to the market.

With doctors having to take on more administrative work in addition to their patient care duties finding systems that can help them accomplish their goals without adding more time consuming tasks can be crucial.

Patients with early rheumatoid arthritis may have reduced myocardial and vascular function.

Researchers continue to look at the age-old question of when to stop treatment with antiplatelet drugs if surgery is necessary. Stopping them too soon increases risk of clotting. Stopping them too late increases risk of excessive blood loss.

Just in time for flu season, a California study shows that physicians are all too willing to work while they themselves are ill.

Newer medications for the treatment of multiple sclerosis have been developed in recent years but for some patients interferon remains the starting point for pharmaceutical options.

Just as overactive bladder issues and constipation are an issue for patients with multiple sclerosis, mirabegron is a popular medication in the general population for managing these issues. At the NYU Langone Medical Center Comprehensive Care Center patients receive treatment from a wide variety of healthcare professionals in order to get the best results possible for their condition.

As patients with multiple sclerosis get older memory loss becomes a growing problem. Ways to slow that process including digital technology to help keep a patient's brain sharp.

Respiratory viruses send patients of all ages to hospitals. A University of Massachusetts team analyzed exactly which viruses were most common and the degrees to which they made people ill.

Optic neuritis is linked to multiple sclerosis and a treatment to help patients with this condition continues to work its way through the research and approval process. Unlike other areas of multiple sclerosis treatment there is no singular way to measure or determine cognitive impairment in patients.