A recent article shows patient safety concerns about PPI’s are common and strongly associated with attempts at discontinuation, with or without a provider’s recommendation. Patients at high risk for GI bleeding, who clearly benefit from PPI’s, were just as likely to have tried stopping PPI’s as others. Physicians should always discuss the risks and benefits
GERD affects 10% to 20% of adults in Western populations and has been known to be an increased risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma. Research on the association between antireflux medication or surgery and risk for esophageal adenocarcinoma has remained limited, although the typical approach has been to treat reflux aggressively when there are precancerous changes like
Several articles have shown an increased risk of fractures with PPI use as patients get older. Sanna Torvinen-Kiiskinen, PhD, of Kuopio Research Centre of Geriatric Care at the University of Eastern Finland, and colleagues wrote that an association between proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use and risk for fractures remains unclear due to contradictory study findings, and
From the AGA website, here is a nice review of the data thus far and how to alleviate your patients’ concerns. See the AGA review here.
A recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found people who consumed very hot tea and alcohol every day had a fivefold higher risk of esophageal cancer, compared with those who drank tea less than once per week and consumed less than 15 grams of alcohol daily. People who drank very hot tea daily
Robot-assisted surgeries are becoming more commonplace, and having greater success. They have become state of the art for prostatic and pelvic surgeries and have a widespread recognition for being superior in the right hands. A recent randomized trial showed robotic laparoscopic esophagectomy led to significantly fewer complications while achieving similar cancer control, compared with open
A recent study in The American Journal of Gastroenterology found high-definition colonoscopy was as effective as dye spraying chromoendoscopy and virtual chromoendoscopy in the detection of neoplastic lesions in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. We use high-definition endoscopy at The Endoscopy Center of the North Shore, as well as Evanston and Glenbrook Hospitals. Read the
Patients with higher levels of Tannerella forsythia bacteria, which can be associated with gum disease, may have a greater risk of esophageal cancer. The increase may be as much as 21% according to a study in Cancer Research. Other bacteria, for example Streptococcus and Neisseria bacteria, were linked to decreased risk. “Our study indicates that
New research examined a total of 1,570,975 cancer cases. During the analysis, 26 cancer types and 17 risk factors were analyzed. These 17 risk factors are called “modifiable” because people can take active measures to change them. In the new study, such factors included: alcohol intake smoking (both first- and second-hand) excess body weight a low content of
A study found 17.7% of patients who had primary laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery experienced recurrent gastroesophageal reflux disease, researchers reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. For patients who had recurrent reflux, 16.4% had a second surgery and 83.6% went on long-term anti-reflux medication. Study: 17.7% of patients get GERD after anti-reflux surgery
