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The first study to assess improvements in detection of pre-cancerous growths in the colon through intensive physician training was presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 76th Annual Scientific Meeting, where colorectal cancer detection was an important focus of the scientific presentations. Other studies highlighted the relationship between the location of pre-cancerous growths in the colon and the development of colorectal cancer in high risk populations, as well as detection rates for pre-cancerous growths in the upper reaches of the colon.

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Social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube can be powerful platforms to deliver and receive healthcare information, especially for patients and caregivers who are increasingly going online to connect and share experiences with others with similar medical issues or concerns. However, these sites may lack patient-centered information and can also be sources of misleading information that could potentially do more harm than good, according to the results of two separate social media-related studies unveiled today.

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New research points to a potential role for UV light exposure and vitamin D levels in chronic digestive conditions; Crohn’s disease, a serious inflammatory condition in the small intestine; and ulcerative colitis (UC), which similarly affects the colon. In two separate studies presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 76th Annual Scientific Meeting, a group of investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital probed the connection between geography, UV exposure and incidence of inflammatory bowel disease while another group from Weill Cornell Medical Center looked at different levels of supplementation with Vitamin D to determine impact on severity of Crohn’s disease.

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Lawrence R. Schiller, M.D., FACG was elected by the membership as the 2011-2012 President of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), a national medical specialty society representing more than 12,000 clinical gastroenterologists and other specialists in digestive diseases. Dr. Schiller officially took his position as President during the College’s 76th Annual Scientific Meeting, held this week in Washington, DC.

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Patients who complain of upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms often face a diagnosis of either gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or functional dyspepsia. Because the two conditions often overlap, it can be difficult to distinguish between them and diagnose them properly. Yet ambulatory care facilities and hospitals have reported a dramatic increase in the number of GERD-related visits/discharges in recent years.

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Just two extra hours of focused training significantly increased the ability of physicians to find potentially precancerous polyps, known as adenomas, in the colon, according to researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

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1) Protein S100A10 is essential for metastatic growth. 2) Macrophages rely upon S100A10 to power movement of tumor cells to new sites.

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Adolescent boys with at least one parent in the military are at elevated risk of engaging in school-based physical fighting, carrying a weapon and joining a gang, according to research presented today at the American Public Health Association’s 139th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

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Minority immigrants are at higher risk of experiencing poor health outcomes the longer they stay in the U.S., according to new research released today at the American Public Health Association’s 139th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

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Nearly all construction workers will experience one or more work-related injuries or illnesses over a lifetime plus a greater risk of premature death, according to new data released today at the American Public Health Association’s 139th Annual Meeting.

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A large pad of abdominal fat cells provides nutrients that promote the spread and growth of ovarian cancer, the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in women. This fatty tissue, extraordinarily rich in energy-dense lipids, serves as a rich fuel source, enabling cancer cells to multiply rapidly.

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An international team of researchers led by investigators in the U.S. and Germany has shed light on the inner workings of the endocycle, a common cell cycle that fuels growth in plants, animals and some human tissues and is responsible for generating up to half of the Earth’s biomass. This discovery, led by a geneticist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and reported Oct. 30 in Nature, leads to a new understanding of how cells grow and how rates of cell growth might be increased or decreased, which has important implications in both agriculture and medicine.

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Data presented today at the 81st Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association showed significantly fewer patients (51% versus 71%) were considered to be at high risk for OSA following surgical reduction or removal of the thyroid gland.

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Glitazones, a class of PPARg drugs capable of re-differentiating the cancer cells, can boost efficacy of radioiodine therapy in metastatic thyroid cancer.

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Mayo Clinic researchers — in partnership with numerous national mental health advocacy organizations — are issuing new simple-to-understand tools to help identify youth who may have mental health disorders.

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1) Healthy individuals over 70 years old can safely donate a kidney. 2) Kidneys from elderly donors do not last as long as those from younger living donors, but they last just as long as organs from younger deceased donors. 3) Nearly 90,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a kidney transplant, and many will die before a suitable organ becomes available.

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Measuring specific, exercise-related responses can help physicians determine who may be more at risk for severe high altitude illness (SHAI), according to a study conducted by researchers in France. The researchers also found that taking acetazolamide (ACZ), a drug frequently prescribed to prevent altitude illness, can reduce some of the risk factors associated with SHAI.

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A new era of leadership begins at the American Thyroid Association (ATA), with the inauguration of its new president, James A. Fagin, MD, and new secretary/chief operating officer (COO), John C. Morris, MD, who today assumed their new positions at the 81st Annual Meeting of the ATA, October 26-30, 2011.

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Researchers are exploring a novel therapeutic approach intended to modify the genetic make-up of radioiodine-refractory forms of thyroid cancer to make them more susceptible to the anti-cancer effects of radioiodine therapy.

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Researchers have developed a new, rapid method for direct detection of the BRAF V600E gene in thyroid tissue without the need to purify DNA from tumor cells--high resolution melting analysis (HRM).

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Universal screening for autoimmune thyroid disease in the first trimester of pregnancy is cost-effective compared with screening of only high-risk women. Both the risk-based and universal screening options are cost-effective when relative to no screening.

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1) The current classification system for the kidney disorder called lupus nephritis is too detailed. 2) Physicians would benefit from a simpler classification system when they treat kidney problems in patients with lupus. 3) Lupus nephritis affects approximately 3 out of every 10,000 people, and it can be serious and lead to kidney failure.

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1) Patients with an autoimmune disease called anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis produce antibodies that damage blood vessels in the kidneys. 2) Patients with the disease harbor elevated blood levels of the protein Flt1, which hinders blood vessel repair. 3) Inhibiting Flt1 may help prevent kidney failure in the 1:50,000 patients around the world who have anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis, plus those with other more frequent diseases involving blood vessels in the kidneys.

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1) Pyridorin, a vitamin B6 derivative, may help slow or prevent the progression of mild kidney disease in some patients with diabetes. 2) The drug does not appear to help diabetics with more advanced kidney disease. 3) The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is expected to double by 2030. Kidney disease cases are sure to rise in parallel.

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1) Suloxdexide is no better than placebo at preventing kidney failure or reducing urinary protein excretion in diabetes patients with kidney failure. 2) Kidney disease due to diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure in developed countries. 3) The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is expected to double by 2030. Kidney disease cases are sure to rise in parallel.

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Researchers tested the effectiveness of lenvatinib in patients with advanced, progressive differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) that does not respond to conventional radioiodine therapy. Data demonstrated a partial response in 45%-50% of the 58 patients enrolled in the study.

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A drug treatment has been proven to prevent lesions from cerebral cavernous malformation — a brain blood vessel abnormality that can cause bleeding, epilepsy and stroke — for the first time in a new study. Fasudil shows potential as a valuable new tool in addressing a clinical problem that is currently treatable only with complex surgery.

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– Individuals with advanced papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) that are associated with the BRAFV600E gene mutation have a higher risk of recurrent disease and progression to more advanced, poorly differentiated thyroid cancer, according to data presented today at the 81st Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA).

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Closer follow-up and recognizing at-risk patients may improve cardiac and colorectal procedure results

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New method shows promise in eliminating the need for long-term anti-rejection drugs, particularly for hand and face transplants.

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In a development that sheds new light on the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Whitehead Institute scientists have identified connections between genetic risk factors for the disease and the effects of a peptide toxic to nerve cells in the brains of AD patients.

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Dana-Farber scientists have devised a test that can predict how effective chemotherapy will be by determining whether tumor cells are "primed" for death. The discovery suggests it may be possible to predict which patients will likely benefit from chemo, as well as to make some chemo more effective.

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Scientists outline new methods for better understanding links between specific proteins and the risks associated with Alzheimer’s disease in an article co-authored by University of Alabama researchers and publishing today in Science Express.

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Identification of three fatty acids involved in the extreme growth of Burmese pythons’ hearts following large meals could prove beneficial in treating diseased human hearts, according to research co-authored by a University of Alabama scientist and publishing in the Oct. 28 issue of Science.

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Robert Linhardt is working to forever change the way some of the most widely used drugs in the world are manufactured. Today, in the journal Science, he and his partner in the research, Jian Liu, have announced an important step toward making this a reality. The discovery appears in the October 28, 2011 edition of the journal Science in a paper titled “chemoenzymatic synthesis of homogeneous ultra-low molecular weight heparins.”

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People who use over-the-counter “thyroid support’’ supplements may be putting their health at risk, according to a study being presented at the annual meeting of the American Thyroid Association.

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Whitehead Institute scientists have determined that master transcription factors determine the genes regulated by key signaling pathways. By manipulating these pathways, scientists may find new ways to treat cancer and other diseases.

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A new analysis of Hubble surveys, combined with simulations of galaxy interactions, reveals that the merger rate of galaxies over the last 8 billion to 9 billion years falls between the previous estimates.

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A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that higher levels of testosterone were associated with reduced loss of lean muscle mass in older men, especially in those who were losing weight. In these men, higher testosterone levels were also associated with less loss of lower body strength.

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A recent study has found that a childhood behavioral intervention to lower dietary intake of total fat and saturated fat and increase consumption of foods that are good sources of dietary fiber resulted in significantly lower fasting plasma glucose levels and lower systolic blood pressure when study participants were re-evaluated in young adulthood. The study was accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM).

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Slower walking speed may indicate increased risk of postoperative complications and longer length of hospital stay

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A large, international clinical trial led by doctors at the University of California, San Francisco indicates that a vaccine to prevent anal cancer is safe and effective, according to a study reported in the October 27, 2011 issue of New England Journal of Medicine.

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Study shows EVAR results can be similar if the technology is affordable and available.

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New study finds no change in complications and death rates in major operations when quality care variables provide framework for pay-for-performance programs

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Delivering anticancer drugs into breast ducts via the nipple is highly effective in animal models of early breast cancer, and has no major side effects in human patients, according to a report by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers in Science Translational Medicine on October 26. The results of the study are expected to lead to more advanced clinical trials of so-called intraductal treatment for early breast cancer.

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In a trial that included more than 150,000 participants, those who underwent annual chest radiographic screening for up to 4 years did not have a significantly lower rate of death from lung cancer compared to participants who were not screened, according to a study in the November 2 issue of JAMA.

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Thomas Jefferson University Hospital surgeons found that a carefully-selected surgical care check list of 12 measures reduced Whipple procedure wound infections by nearly 50 percent.

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Two Fellows of the American College of Surgeons have been honored for surgical volunteerism.

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Preschool children with relatively poor language skills improve more if they are placed in classrooms with high-achieving students, a new study found.

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Patients with certain genes or specific factors related to use of the anti-clotting drug clopidogrel are more likely to experience a blood clot within a coronary stent shortly after placement, according to a study in the October 26 issue of JAMA.