Gastrointestinal Health News and Research

Latest Gastrointestinal Health News and Research

Heartburn during pregnancy

Heartburn symptoms are one of the most commonly reported complaints among pregnant women.

10 Dec 2007

ACG offers updated clinical guidance for managing pregnant patients

Physician experts from the American College of Gastroenterology have released an updated educational monograph highlighting the unique clinical challenges of caring for women with chronic digestive disorders during pregnancy and managing GI complications relating to pregnancy.

10 Dec 2007

Fruits and raw veggies reduce the risk of cancer

The latest research says that by eating just three servings a month of raw broccoli or cabbage a person can reduce their risk of bladder cancer by as much as 40 percent.

9 Dec 2007

Re-engineered Gleevec reduces heart risks

Using a new bottom-up approach for rational drug design, researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have reengineered the powerful anticancer drug imatinib - best known by its brand name Gleevec - to more specifically target one type of cancer while potentially curbing a rare life-threatening cardiotoxic side effect.

4 Dec 2007

Satellites used for European health early warning and epidemiology exercise

An earthquake has just shaken the Greek island. Damage is widespread and all conventional, terrestrial communications have been destroyed. The rescue operations have only one means at their disposal that has not been affected by the quake - a satellite which, from its altitude of 36 000 kilometres, can immediately link the locations involved in the catastrophe with the appropriate authorities.

3 Dec 2007

Innovative drug production project secures funding from Technology Strategy Board

PolyTherics, a biopharmaceutical spin-out company from Imperial College London and the London School of Pharmacy, has announced that it has secured funding from the Technology Strategy Board.

29 Nov 2007

Could stem cells be used to cure Crohn's Disease?

Scientists are investigating whether stem cells could be used to 're-boot' the immune system and provide a cure for Crohn's Disease.

29 Nov 2007

Serum carcinoembryonic antigen level can reflect adrenal adenoma

The female patient, reported on the December 7 issue 45 of World J Gastroenterology, presented a rare case, with symptoms consistent with hyperadrenocorticism and hypercatecholaminism, and also had a Cushingoid appearance.

21 Nov 2007

How can we know early who will benefit from tumor target therapy?

The precise tailoring of tumor target treatment for patients with cancer is an unmet challenge.

21 Nov 2007

University of Illinois at Chicago receives $2.2 million grant to develop drugs to suppress cocaine cravings

The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy has received a $2.2 million federal grant to develop therapeutics to suppress the cravings of cocaine addicts.

19 Nov 2007

Compound of milk thistle shows anti-cancer effects

Recently, scientists demonstrated the anti-cancer effects of silibinin, a major biologically active compound of milk thistle. Being widely used as a folk remedy for liver diseases, milk thistle is safe and well-tolerated, and it protects the liver from drug or alcohol-related injury.

15 Nov 2007

Progress in in food allergy prevention

Progress has been made in food allergy prevention and management according to investigators presenting the latest research at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Dallas. Important research findings may impact diet restrictions of food allergic patients.

15 Nov 2007

Gene variants behind pancreatic stone formation

Stone formation is an important feature of chronic pancreatitis, especially tropical calcific pancreatitis (TCP), where the stones are large in size, highly irregular in shape and cause enormous tissue destruction.

14 Nov 2007

New insight into ulcerative colitis

Social, environmental and dietary changes are associated with the changes of disease spectrum in a country. Ulcerative colitis has become a commonly seen disease in China, probably due to extensive consumption of Western foods in recent years.

14 Nov 2007

Plasma serotonin levels can correlate with degree of liver insufficiency

Liver cirrhosis is a worldwide disease with an incidence of 5 - 10% and represents a major health problem everywhere. Prognosis depends on the degree of liver damage and etiology of cirrhosis.

5 Nov 2007

Endosonography-guided biliary drainage is useful in cases with failed endoscopic biliary stenting

The role of endosonography (ES) in digestive diseases is expanding gradually from diagnostic applications to therapeutic ones. The feasibility of ES-guided cholangiopancreatography was first reported by Harada et al. (pancreatography) and Wiersema et al. (cholangiography) in 1995 and 1996, respectively.

5 Nov 2007

Does neural cell adhesion molecule-180 predict survival in colorectal cancer?

When a person learns they are suffering from cancer, the first question in their mind is always: "How much time do I have?" Unfortunately, this is a question to which the researchers have long been seeking an absolute answer.

5 Nov 2007

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

Increased glucose level is a strong risk factor for colorectal cancer

Diabetes is a very common illness that affects more than 20 million people in the U.S. and it is estimated an additional 54 million Americans have pre-diabetes, a condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

2 Nov 2007

Threshold for colectomy may be too high, warn experts

The clinical threshold for undertaking elective surgery to remove part or all of the colon (colectomy) for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may be too high, warn researchers in a study published on bmj.com.

1 Nov 2007