Abdominal Pain News and Research

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Abdominal pain is traditionally described by its chronicity (acute or chronic), its progression over time, its nature (sharp, dull, colicky), its distribution (by various methods, such as abdominal quadrant (left upper quadrant, left lower quadrant, right upper quadrant, right lower quadrant) or other methods that divide the abdomen into nine sections), and by characterization of the factors that make it worse, or alleviate it.

Minority patients prefer optical colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening

The clinical importance of colorectal cancer screening is well established, however the majority of eligible people do not undergo screening tests.

2 Nov 2007

Is it pancreatitis in acute abdominal pain in acute viral hepatitis?

Hepatitis viruses have a strong tropism for hepatocytes; viral antigen also has been detected in pancreas and gallbladder.

1 Nov 2007

Smoked salmon dip recalled because of Listeria contamination

The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. has alerted retailers and the public over food suspected of being contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

30 Oct 2007

Canadian beef the culprit in E.coli outbreaks in U.S. and Canada

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has issued a warning to the public regarding various beef products.

29 Oct 2007

Lidocaine lollipop helps prepare for upper GI endoscopy

Researchers at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in Lebanon have found that administering a lidocaine lollipop as a single-agent anesthetic to patients undergoing an upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy procedure eliminated the need for sedation in the majority of patients.

17 Oct 2007

Study evaluates safety, efficacy and tolerability of probiotics for irritable bowel syndrome

A new analysis of randomized controlled trials evaluating probiotics in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has found that Bifantis, Bifidobacterium infantis 35624, the sole ingredient in Align (manufactured by Procter & Gamble), is the only probiotic currently able to demonstrate significant improvement in IBS symptoms based upon a properly designed research study.

16 Oct 2007

Hospital chairman quits over superbug scandal

Following a report that as many as 345 patients may have died from an infection contracted at a British hospital, the chairman of the hospital trust at the centre of the infection scandal has resigned.

16 Oct 2007

GERD can masquerade as persistent cough or even severe chest pain

Many people may not realize that symptoms such as chronic cough or chest pain can be caused by acid reflux into the esophagus, because they do not experience classic heartburn symptoms or acid regurgitation.

16 Oct 2007

Eating raw fish raises potential health concerns

Two case studies from Japan presented at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology point to a potential health problem in the United States, as more Americans consume raw fish in the form of sushi and sashimi. Anisakiasis (round worm) is a human parasitic infection caused by the consumption of raw or undercooked seafood containing Anisakis larvae.

16 Oct 2007

Capsule endoscopy finds undiagnosed Crohn's disease

A small capsule that takes "snapshots" of the small intestine as it moves through the digestive tract helped doctors spot cases of Crohn's disease that had gone undiagnosed for up to 15 years, according to researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

16 Oct 2007

Cause and clinical outcome of portal vein thrombosis

Among the 118 patients with portal vein thrombosis, noncirrhotic and nontumoral extrahepatic portal vein obstruction are young and present with well tolerated bleed.

15 Oct 2007

FDA warns consumers not to consume Organic Pastures raw cream

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to drink or consume raw (unpasteurized) cream labeled as "ORGANIC PASTURES Grade A RAW CREAM" in one-pint plastic bottles coded "SEP 14" through "SEP 21."

24 Sep 2007

Common abdominal pain may be due to a potentially treatable newly recognized inflammatory reaction

As many as one in four people in westernized countries experience pain or discomfort in their upper abdomen, and physicians have almost nothing to offer except anti-acid medicines, which usually don't work.

20 Sep 2007

FDA accepts Sucampo's sNDA for Lubiprostone for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has announced that the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for lubiprostone (8 mcg, oral gel capsules, twice daily) for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) has been accepted for review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

18 Sep 2007

E. Coli crops up again in lettuce from the U.S.

In yet another food scare in North America, Canadian consumers are being warned about contaminated lettuce.

17 Sep 2007

Health psychologists discuss latest research findings

Common physical symptoms such as fatigue, chest pain and lower back pain are related to the perception of everyday smells, University of Nottingham researchers will tell delegates at a health psychology conference on campus.

13 Sep 2007

Eight things you need to know about ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer doesn't get the kind of attention breast cancer gets. It's not as common, and because survival rates are poor, it does not produce an army of survivors to raise awareness.

11 Sep 2007

Pregnancy-induced hypertension

Warnings signs such as increased stress could indicate that pregnancy-induced hypertension is reaching life-threatening levels, found Temple University researcher Kathleen Black, DNSc, RNC, the author of a study in the September/October issue of the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing.

3 Sep 2007