Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have identified cells in the upper digestive tract that can give rise to Barrett’s esophagus, a precursor to esophageal cancer.
Radiologists can enhance the quality and effectiveness of care with the newest release of the ACR Appropriateness Criteria®. The latest edition covers 178 diagnostic imaging and interventional radiology topics with 890 clinical variants. Diagnostic imaging topics now cover 1,570 clinical scenarios.
A new mouse study found that, even in immunized animals, noroviruses can escape the immune system and still spread by hiding out in an extremely rare type of cell in the gut.
Myron Schwartz, MD, the Henry Kaufmann Professor of Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of Liver Surgery at the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute, has been named as the 2017 Physician of the Year by the American Liver Foundation’s Greater New York Division.
Despite a diagnosis of stage IV pancreatic cancer and ongoing chemotherapy, Mike Levine boarded a plane this past weekend destined for Kona, Hawaii, where he will compete in one of the most grueling of physical competitions: the Ironman World Championship. Cheering him on will be his wife Jan, friends and Paul Fanta, MD, a pancreatic cancer expert with Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health who has been treating Levine since 2016.
Approximately 10 percent of Americans take a proton pump inhibitor drug to relieve symptoms of frequent heartburn and acid reflux. That percentage can be much higher for people with chronic liver disease. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered evidence in mice and humans that these medications alter gut bacteria in a way that promotes three types of chronic liver disease. The study is published October 10 in Nature Communications.
Adam J. Goodman, MD, specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the digestive system, particularly diseases of the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, colon, and rectum, as well as obstructions of the bile duct and GI tract.
In the November 2017 issue of Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, Dr. Charlène Brochard and her colleagues from a spina bifida referral center in Rennes, France, report on the frequency of intestinal problems in 26- to 45-year-old patients with spina bifida. The multidisciplinary study included clinical data obtained over a 9-year period on nearly 400 spina bifida patients, emphasizing the association of obesity with fecal incontinence and bowel dysfunction.
A team of researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health has received a $3.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how gut bacteria play a role in the development of diabetes among residents of Starr County, Texas.
New discoveries about the mechanism responsible for heat generation in the body related to fat tissue oppose classical views in the field and could lead to new ways to fight metabolic disorders associated with obesity, according to a study led by Georgia State University.
Scientists have determined that fungus may play a key role in chronic intestinal inflammation disorders. They found that patients with Crohn’s disease tend to have much higher levels of the fungus Candida tropicalis compared to their healthy family members. A new review published in Digestive and Liver Disease looks at these findings and provides insights into potential new therapeutic approaches using antifungals and probiotics in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn’s disease (CD).
BOSTON – (October 3, 2017) – If you’re one of the two billion people in the world who are over-weight or obese, or the one billion people with fatty liver disease, your doctor’s first advice is to cut calories—and especially to cut down on concentrated sugars such as high-fructose corn syrup, a sugar found in sweetened beverages and many other processed foods.
Pembrolizumab, a drug that has effectively extended the lives of countless people with many types of cancer, has now been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to treat people with metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma, the most common form of stomach cancer. The research that led to the approval was conducted at UCLA and 67 other sites in the U.S., Europe, South America and Asia.
Proactive monitoring of blood levels of the therapeutic drug infliximab was associated with improved outcomes including lower risk of surgery and hospitalization.
Shlomo Melmed, MB, ChB, executive vice president, Academic Affairs, and dean of the medical faculty at Cedars-Sinai, has won the 2018 Outstanding Scholarly Physician Award from the Endocrine Society, the largest global membership organization representing professionals in endocrinology. The annual award recognizes outstanding contributions to the practice of clinical endocrinology in academic settings.
By enabling early disease detection and personalized treatment, laboratory tests can save lives as well as billions in medical costs each year. Join AACC and leading experts in laboratory medicine for a discussion of how clinical tests can be leveraged to achieve these goals, as well as the policies needed to support testing’s vital contribution to healthcare.
A new study finds that lowering the levels of an antioxidant in the colon has an unexpectedly positive effect on gastrointestinal (GI) inflammation. The paper is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.
Cancers driven by mutations in the KRAS gene are among the most deadly. For decades, researchers have tried unsuccessfully to directly target mutant KRAS proteins as a means to treat tumors. Instead of targeting mutant KRAS itself, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine are now looking for other genes or molecules that, when inhibited, kill cancer cells only when KRAS is also mutated.
Liraglutide injection, a prescription medication used to treat type-2 diabetes and obesity is associated with marked slowing of stomach emptying and is an effective weight loss therapy. These are the findings of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study by Mayo Clinic researchers published today in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.
A new study suggests that physiological stress in premature infants combined with separation from their mothers may have lasting effects into adulthood. In clinical studies, these factors have been found to increase the risk of obesity and insulin resistance, leading to metabolic disorders such as metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Specific immune cells have the ability to produce a healing factor that can promote wound repair in the intestine, a finding that could lead to new, potential therapeutic treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a new research study.
More and more often, we see “gluten-free” food options on store shelves and restaurant menus. But what does “gluten-free” mean and why have such products become so popular?
Stephan R. Targan, MD, a pioneering physician and researcher in gastroenterology, has been awarded the Sherman Prize for groundbreaking work in the understanding and treatment of debilitating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Video available at http://www.shermanprize.org/recipient-winners-all/stephan-r-targan-2017-sherman-prize-recipient
UofL gastroenterologist Matthew Cave, M.D., believes that chemicals we breathe, consume or come in contact with in the environment may be contributing to liver disease. He has been awarded $4 million by the NIEHS to explore the effects of environmental chemicals on the liver.
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has awarded UT Southwestern researchers more than $34 million for cancer research and faculty recruitment, including support for programs in pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma.
Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Sema4, and collaborating institutions today published results of an in-depth, multi-omics approach to characterizing the immune component of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
UCLA has received an $8.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research ways to help donated livers last longer and improve outcomes for transplant recipients.
Patients with the most common type of liver cancer who are taking the chemotherapy drug sorafenib can begin their treatment with a lower dose than is currently considered standard, and it will not affect how long they live when compared to patients who start on the full dose.
High levels of a protein known as suPAR, which has been shown to be a marker and likely cause of kidney damage, is as reliably predictive in children as in adults, according to results of a study published online today in JAMA Pediatrics, a clinical publication of the American Medical Association.
A clinical trial testing the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab shows the drug to be well tolerated among patients who have carcinoid or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. That’s according to investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and others. The work is being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology 2017 Congress next week in Madrid.
Expanding its surgical and research focus on cancers of the abdominal area and rare conditions including endocrine and mesothelioma malignancies, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey has named H. Richard Alexander, MD, FACS, as its new chief surgical officer. He will be part of the Institute’s Gastrointestinal Oncology Program when he arrives this fall.
Sleep apnea, left untreated for even a few days, can increase blood sugar and fat levels, stress hormones and blood pressure, according to a new study of sleeping subjects. A report of the study’s findings, published in the August issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, adds further support for the consistent use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a machine that increases air pressure in the throat to keep the airway open during sleep.
A fast, simple blood test for ulcerative colitis using infrared spectroscopy could provide a cheaper, less invasive alternative for screening compared to colonoscopy, which is now the predominant test, according to a study between the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.
Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have demonstrated for the first time using micromotors to treat a bacterial infection in the stomach. These tiny vehicles, each about half the width of a human hair, swim rapidly throughout the stomach while neutralizing gastric acid and then release their cargo of antibiotics at the desired pH.
An intracellular metabolite of glutamine regulates cellular differentiation programs by changing the DNA-binding patterns of a transcription factor and by altering genome interactions. Genome context near the binding sites affects whether the binding turns on or turns off gene programs.
In the September 2017 issue of Diseases of the Colon & Rectum, surgeons from the Mayo Clinic show that use of a single dose of antibiotic before surgery results in a very low rate of wound infection following colon surgery.
A routinely used hospital tool can predict which liver transplant recipients are more likely to do poorly after surgery, according to a study led by Cedars-Sinai. The findings could help doctors identify which patients should receive physical therapy or other targeted interventions to improve their recovery.
Mayo Clinic researchers, along with colleagues at the University of Iowa, report that a human gut microbe discovered at Mayo Clinic may help treat autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis. The findings appear in Cell Reports.
Rodeo Therapeutics, a new drug development company created by two highly regarded Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers, has raised $5.9 million to develop small-molecule drugs that promote the body’s repair of diseased or damaged tissues.
Researchers in Georgia State University’s Institute for Biomedical Sciences have received a four-year, $1.4 million federal grant to study novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of intestinal inflammation.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a particular gut microbe can prevent severe flu infections in mice, likely by breaking down naturally occurring compounds — called flavonoids — commonly found in foods such as black tea, red wine and blueberries.
The combination of a bacterium that normally lives in the gut and a protein-rich diet promotes a more tolerant, less inflammatory gut immune system, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings, in mice, suggest a way to tilt the gut immune system away from inflammation, potentially spelling relief for people living with inflammatory bowel disease.
A team of researchers has demonstrated that children with autism spectrum disorder have a unique composition of gut bacteria and urinary metabolites compared with unaffected children. The research, revealed today at the 69th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo in San Diego, could lead to promising new treatment options for children with autism as well as earlier detection of the disorder.