Gastrointestinal Tract News and Research

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FDA approves INVEGA treatment for schizophrenia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved INVEGA (paliperidone) Extended-Release Tablets, a new once-daily, atypical antipsychotic, for the long-term maintenance treatment of schizophrenia.

30 Apr 2007

Virtual Colonoscopy ...safer and cheaper

New technology called "virtual colonoscopy" is promising to offer fewer complications and be more cost-effective than the traditional colonoscopy.

24 Apr 2007

Virtual colonoscopy most cost-effective colon cancer screening test

A new study says targeting smaller (5 mm) lesions does little to significantly reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) and, in fact, results in extremely high financial costs and a large proportion of adverse events.

24 Apr 2007

Study links Helicobacter pylori to asthma prevention

The stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which causes stomach cancer and peptic ulcers, may not be all bad.

24 Apr 2007

Doctors remove woman's gallbladder through her vagina

In what must be a first surgeons have removed a woman's gallbladder from her body through her vagina.

22 Apr 2007

Gall bladder removed vaginally using endoscope

Medical and surgical endoscopists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center removed a woman's gall bladder using a flexible endoscope with only minimal external incisions.

21 Apr 2007

Gleevec shows great promise in preventing cancer recurrence

Gleevec, a pill developed in conjunction with the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute is again showing excellent results in preventing a cancer recurrence.

15 Apr 2007

Precautions against C. difficile infection

Illness related to C. difficile, a bacterium commonly found in hospitals, is becoming more widespread, more severe, and harder to treat, reports the April 2007 issue of Harvard Women's Health Watch . Health experts are worried that a new, more virulent strain may be to blame.

2 Apr 2007

Decoy receptor 3 expressed in rheumatic synovial fibroblasts protects the cells against Fas-induced apoptosis

A complex autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by chronic inflammation and progressive joint damage. This process begins with hyperplasia, or excessive increase in size and thickness, of synovial tissue. Along with provoking cartilage and bone destruction, this abnormal tissue growth is resistant to apoptosis, the natural cell death vital to the generation of healthy new cells.

30 Mar 2007

New Crohn's disease treatment Humira promises to reduce symptoms

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has given it's approval for the use of the drug Humira (adalimumab) to treat adults suffering from Crohn's disease.

28 Feb 2007

Procalcitonin helps predict prognosis among those with peritonitis

Monitoring blood levels of a compound known as procalcitonin in patients with peritonitis (a serious intra-abdominal infection) could help identify patients at increased risk of organ failure and death, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Surgery.

20 Feb 2007

Rapid transport of large polymeric nanoparticles in fresh undiluted human mucus

The layers of mucus that protect sensitive tissue throughout the body have an undesirable side effect: they can also keep helpful medications away.

5 Feb 2007

Lap band surgery effective in combating obesity in adolescents

It is the first study to evaluate the lap band in patients under the age of 17, and it revealed that patients on average lost about 50% of their excess weight by one year after surgery.

23 Jan 2007

Cytogen issued new patent covering oral drug delivery agents

Cytogen Corporation has announced that it has been issued United States patent number 7,135,457 covering its oral drug delivery agents - random peptide compositions that bind to gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) transport receptors.

28 Nov 2006

Risks of gastrointestinal ulcers linked to aspirin use might outweigh its benefits for the heart in certain patients

Doctors should consider whether patients are at high risk of stomach ulcers before prescribing aspirin treatment.

20 Sep 2006

Why H5N1 bird flu is so lethal

Researchers in Vietnam have discovered why the H5N1 bird flu virus currently at large is so lethal to humans.

11 Sep 2006

Cancer patient receives first proton therapy treatment

A Cocoa Beach man with prostate cancer has become the first patient to undergo treatment at the new University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute, the first time the most advanced form of radiation therapy available has been offered in the Southeast.

15 Aug 2006