Gastrointestinal Health News and Research

Latest Gastrointestinal Health News and Research

Natural language processing programs can help measure colonoscopy quality

A new study shows that natural language processing programs can "read" dictated reports and provide information to allow measurement of colonoscopy quality in an inexpensive, automated and efficient manner.

23 Jun 2012

European CHMP adopts positive opinion for teduglutide to treat short bowel syndrome

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., jointly announced today that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorisation for the medicinal product teduglutide (Revestive) as a once-daily treatment for adult patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS).

22 Jun 2012

Patients taking common blood pressure drug show symptoms of celiac disease

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered an association between a commonly prescribed blood pressure drug, Olmesartan, and severe gastrointestinal issues such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss and electrolyte abnormalities -- symptoms common among those who have celiac disease. The findings are published online today in the medical journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

22 Jun 2012

Parents must be considered during expansion of genetic screening programs for newborns

Parents must be considered when states decide to expand genetic screening programs for newborns, according to a new study that looked at mandatory testing panels and political pressure by advocacy groups.

22 Jun 2012

IU gastroenterologist develops first guidelines for diagnosis and management of NAFLD

An Indiana University School of Medicine gastroenterologist led a team of distinguished physicians who developed the first guidelines for diagnosis and management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

22 Jun 2012

Link between Olmesartan drug and severe GI issues

22 Jun 2012

Screening reduces colorectal cancer death not development risk

Screening for colorectal cancer by testing for fecal occult blood reduces the risk for death from this type of cancer, study results show.

20 Jun 2012

IOF review outlines pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in young adults

Much of the research defining osteoporosis and fracture risk has focused on older adults, i.e. postmenopausal women and men over the age of 50. While older adults are at highest risk of osteoporosis and related fractures, the disease can also affect younger adults between 20 and 50 years of age. However, the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in young adults is complicated by special challenges, including a complex pathophysiology and the related fact that there is no clear definition of osteoporosis, or of intervention thresholds, in this age group.

20 Jun 2012

Antimicrobial exposure may increase risk of allergies in children

Exposure to common antibacterial chemicals and preservatives found in soap, toothpaste, mouthwash and other personal-care products may make children more prone to a wide range of food and environmental allergies, according to new research from Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

20 Jun 2012

UMMS researcher receives Janssen Award for microRNA discovery

Longtime collaborators Victor R. Ambros, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Gary B. Ruvkun, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, were awarded the 2012 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research today by Johnson & Johnson for their co-discovery of microRNA, tiny molecules that are now understood to play a powerful role in gene expression and regulation.

20 Jun 2012

Furiex initiates MuDelta Phase III studies in IBS-D

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced dosing of the first patient in its Phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies evaluating efficacy, safety and tolerability of MuDelta (JNJ-27018966) in the treatment of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D).

20 Jun 2012

HCV suppression reduces liver damage

Profound suppression of the hepatitis C virus reduces long-term hepatic inflammation and fibrosis even in patients who do not achieve a sustained virologic response, research demonstrates.

19 Jun 2012

Allergy risk in children linked to antibacterials in personal-care products

Exposure to common antibacterial chemicals found in soap, toothpaste, mouthwash and other personal-care products may make children more prone to a wide range of food and environmental allergies, according to new research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

19 Jun 2012

New clues to why some urinary tract infections recur persistently

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found new clues to why some urinary tract infections recur persistently after multiple rounds of treatment.

19 Jun 2012

Spectros introduces OnCall wireless remote access to view real-time patient results

Spectros Corporation announces the successful launch of OnCall wireless remote access for viewing real-time patient results on T-Stat white light tissue oximeters.

18 Jun 2012

Researchers identify commensal bacteria in the human intestine

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital have identified commensal bacteria in the human intestine that produce a neurotransmitter that may play a role in preventing or treating inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease.

18 Jun 2012

Gladstone investigators play key part in Human Microbiome Project

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes today are announcing their role in an unprecedented collaboration organized by the National Institutes of Health, which used groundbreaking methods to vastly improve our understanding of bacteria that reside in and on the human body.

14 Jun 2012

Laparoscopy technique lights up invisible metastases

Fluorescence laparoscopy could be the way forward for cancer surgery and staging, say researchers writing in the Archives of Surgery.

14 Jun 2012

First inventory of microbial diversity in the world's oceans

The landmark publication this week of a "map" of the bacterial make-up of healthy humans has deep roots in an unexpected place: the ocean.

14 Jun 2012

Western-style diets may increase risk of inflammatory bowel disease

Certain saturated fats that are common in the modern Western diet can initiate a chain of events leading to complex immune disorders such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in people with a genetic predisposition, according to a study to be published early online in the journal Nature.

14 Jun 2012