Gastrointestinal Health News and Research

Latest Gastrointestinal Health News and Research

Advanced gene sequencing test helps clinicians treat cancer

The University of Washington and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) partnered to launch UW-OncoPlex - an advanced gene sequencing test to help clinicians treat cancer. The new diagnostic tool is a significant milestone in the development of precision medicine and empowers doctors to predict which treatment therapies will be most effective for an individual patient's cancer.

14 Mar 2013

ST131 infection is more prevalent in LTCF residents and elderly population

Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) continues to proliferate, driven largely by expansion of a strain of E. coli know as sequence type ST131. A new study points to hospitals and long-term care facilities (LTCF) as settings in which this antibiotic-resistant strain is increasingly found.

14 Mar 2013

Researchers study how skin microbiome gets transmitted between players using roller derby

The human skin is home to countless microorganisms that we can't see, but these microbes help define who we are. Our invisible passengers - known as the skin microbiome - contribute to our health in numerous ways including educating our immune system, protecting us from pathogens, and mediating skin disorders.

14 Mar 2013

Planar cell polarity genes control connectivity of enteric neurons

The enteric nervous system (ENS), the "little brain" that resides within the gut wall, governs motility, secretion, and blood flow in the human gastrointestinal tract. Failure of the ENS to develop normally leads to congenital megacolon (Hirschsprung Disease) while loss of normal gut innervation is thought to contribute to debilitating motility disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome.

11 Mar 2013

Investigational treatment for ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) has Marketing Authorisation Application submitted

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) today announced that a Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) has been submitted to The European Medicines Agency (EMA) for vedolizumab, an investigational, gut-selective humanized monoclonal antibody for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), the two most common types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

8 Mar 2013

Medication use and doctor visits drive up jaw necrosis-related costs

Long-term medication use and follow-up visits are the main drivers affecting costs associated with cancer-related bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw, report researchers in Oral Diseases.

8 Mar 2013

Novel drug seems to increase effectiveness of usual chemotherapy against IBC

Researchers in the University of Delaware's Department of Biological Sciences are investigating a new drug that has shown positive results in early tests of its ability to fight a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer.

8 Mar 2013

Nearly 90% of young children continue to struggle with ADHD symptoms despite treatment

A study published in the March 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that 9 out of 10 young children with moderate to severe attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) continue to experience serious to severe symptoms and impairment long after their original diagnoses, and in many cases, despite treatment.

8 Mar 2013

Good dental health ‘cuts stroke risk’

Good dental health, including prophylaxis of periodontal disease, is associated with a reduced risk for ischemic stroke, results of a large retrospective cohort study indicate.

5 Mar 2013

Results from Pfizer’s Prevnar 13 Phase 3 study on HIV

Pfizer Inc. presented today the results from a Phase 3 study demonstrating the immunogenicity, tolerability and safety of Prevnar 13 (Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine Diphtheria CRM197 Protein)in adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

5 Mar 2013

GP consultations: an interview with Associate Professor Helena Britt, University of Sydney

Well it hasn’t varied at all over the last 15 years, which I find pretty amazing because we’ve been through a lot of changes in general practice. Yet, the average length of consultation, as measured from a start to finish time, in a sample of 40,000 consultations in Australia in a year, shows that the average is 15 minutes and the median is 13 minutes.

4 Mar 2013

No increased risk for inflammatory bowel disease with isotretinoin

Researchers report no link between isotretinoin use for the treatment of acne and increased risk for inflammatory bowel disease in women of reproductive age.

1 Mar 2013

Kallikrein gene variants modulate OSCC development

Polymorphisms in the kallikrein7 and kallikrein10 genes are associated with the development and progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma, a study in Taiwanese men indicates.

1 Mar 2013

Scientists take important step toward designing a uniform protocol for microbiome research

Earth Day may be more than a month away, but another, more personal, ecosystem has been shown to also be worth protecting-within our bodies are communities of microbes that affect the behavior of human cells hosting them.

1 Mar 2013

Faecal microbiota transplantation highly effective in treating recurrent C. difficile infections

Clostridium difficile infections have developed into a virtual pandemic over the past two decades. The outcome of standard antibiotic treatment is unsatisfactory: the recurrence rates are high with every relapse increasing the risk of further follow-ups. Faecal microbiota transplantation offers a rapidly acting and highly effective alternative in treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (RCDI), as Professor Lawrence J. Brandt (Montefiore Medical Center, New York, USA) points out.

27 Feb 2013

Societies advocate some change for colonoscopy patients with Medicare

The federal government has issued an important clarification on preventive screening benefits under the Affordable Care Act. Patients with private insurance will no longer be liable for cost sharing when a pre-cancerous colon polyp is removed during screening colonoscopy.

26 Feb 2013

High-level results from AstraZeneca’s naloxegol Phase III trial on opioid-induced constipation

AstraZeneca today announced high-level results from KODIAC-08, an open-label, randomised, 52-week, long-term safety trial of naloxegol versus usual care (UC) in patients with non-cancer related pain and opioid-induced constipation (OIC). UC was defined as the investigator's choice of an existing laxative treatment regimen for OIC.

26 Feb 2013

LINX device may help relieve chronic heartburn symptoms

Clinical trial results published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week offer additional evidence that a new device may help relieve chronic heartburn symptoms that standard treatment cannot. The Keck Medical Center of USC was one of 14 U.S. and European medical centers to test the device prior to its March 2012 approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

26 Feb 2013

Oral health in elderly Chileans improving, but disparities remain

Oral health makes a significant contribution to the general wellbeing of older people, a survey of Chilean over-60s has found.

25 Feb 2013

Mechanisms of HPV-associated tumor spread under scrutiny

In patients with human papillomavirus-associated tonsillar carcinoma, second tumors in the contralateral tonsil are typically caused by the same viral variant, a case series indicates.

25 Feb 2013