ACG Clinical Guideline: Management of Patients With Acute Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding
The American College of Gastroenterology’s new clinical guideline for acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding offers 27 recommendations graded by the strength of evidence. The recommendations, published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, cover evaluation and management, colonoscopic and noncolonoscopic strategies, and preventing recurrent bleeding. Strate said the recommendations call for colonoscopy as the initial procedure for
Ulcerative colitis patients more concerned about IBD complications than drug adverse events
An online survey asking ulcerative colitis patients in the US and Australia about their biggest concerns found 37% said it was the increased risk for colon cancer, 29% said it was the possibility of needing an ostomy and 14% cited adverse events from medications. When asked about treatment issues, 84% were most concerned about surgery
First-Of-Its-Kind Study Investigates Antidepressant as Treatment for Functional Heartburn
Nonerosive reflux disease is a difficult entity with little or no evidence of acid injury, but persistent symptoms attributed to acid reflux. Many of these patients do not respond to even very potent acid blockers. Well, a study in The American Journal of Gastroenterology found the antidepressant imipramine was no better than a placebo in
Detrimental effects include more aggressive disease and worse response to treatment. Once again, the immune effects on the microbiome may be the pathway to disease activation and drug response. Source: Assessing the Links Between Smoking and Crohn’s Disease
Homeopathy found to be effective for 0 out of 68 illnesses – Times of India
A leading scientist has declared homeopathy a “therapeutic dead-end” after a systematic review concluded the controversial treatment was no more effective than placebo drugs. A total of 57 systematic reviews, containing the 176 individual studies, focused on 68 different health conditions – and found there to be no evidence homeopathy was more effective than placebo
CDC data showed almost 3.1 million US adults reported being diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease in 2015, with rates varying by age, education, ethnicity, income and employment status. The study, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, found higher IBD rates among adults ages 45 and older and non-Hispanic whites. MedPage Today (free
Study: $15.4B spent by doctors annually on reporting quality measures
With MACRA, the government has allocated $500M to $1B in bonuses to be paid for the upper tier of quality performers. But let’s put that in perspective. A study by the Medical Group Management Association and Weill Cornell Medical College found that costs for reporting quality measures amount to more than $15.4 billion per year
Noninvasive liver fibrosis scores lack accuracy in some patient groups
With Hepatitis C and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease being a healthcare issue of significant proportions to baby boomers, the availability of noninvasive tests to evaluate the degree of liver injury has become quite commonplace. But how accurate are these tests? Liver enzymes are notoriously inaccurate at determining the degree of either injury or scarring. Liver
