A new startup called ColonaryConcepts (yes, you read that correctly) seeks to “purge” the unpleasantness from colonoscopy prep. Dr. Corey Siegel and Dr. Joshua Korzenik (director of Brigham and Women’s Hospital Crohn’s and Colitis Center) have embarked on developing a new bar and beverage line to help people prep for colonoscopies. The goal, he says, is
A Japanese surgical expert is invited to perform a laparoscopic liver resection on a very ill patient at India’s prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). About 100 surgeons observe. During the operation, the patient starts to bleed. Reports say members of the audience encouraged the surgeons to switch to an open operation after
Ongoing quality measures lead to post-colonoscopy complications remaining very low
Worldwide rates of post-colonoscopy complications either remained low or decreased in the past 15 years, confirming the global safety of colonoscopy as a diagnostic, screening, surveillance and therapeutic procedure. The results suggest improvement in techniques, better and more accurate quality end-points, and the benefits of feedback and modification of “best practices” based on the analysis
Access to Subspecialty Hepatology Care Increases Survival Among V.A. Patients With Liver Disease
Access to subspecialty GI care may be difficult for patients with liver disease, but it is unknown whether access influences outcomes. A total of 28,861 patients within the Veterans Administration were studied to determine rates and predictors of access to ambulatory GI subspecialty care for patients with liver disease, and to determine whether this
Can Blood Levels of Ammonia Predict Risk and Frequency of Hepatic Encephalopathy in Patients With Cirrhosis?
We have long argued about the benefits of ammonia levels in following patients with cirrhosis and altered mentation. The textbook answer, long “re-posted”, is that the levels are not useful. But, whenever we follow recommendations historically and by habit–without thinking about the underlying rationale–we are at risk of getting burned. So it may be with
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising that the serious side effects associated with fluoroquinolone antibacterial drugs generally outweigh the benefits for patients with sinusitis, bronchitis, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections. These drugs are commonly used in the treatment of bowel infections as well, for example infectious diarrhea or diverticulitis, although the warning does
In what may come as a bit of a surprise, a new study found that overweight colon cancer patients tended to have better survival than their normal-weight peers. However, obesity increases the risk of having polyps and colon cancer to begin with. So although this is a little surprising, don’t bank on being overweight as
The growing pains of the health care act are frustrating patients.
“Sorry, We Don’tTake Obamacare” The growing pains of the health care act are frustrating patients. Research thus far suggests that the differences between plans offered through the ACA and those offered by employers may be quite significant. A study in the policy journal Health Affairs found that out-of-pocket prescription costs were twice as high in
During my junior year of college, I waited in line with classmates to use a chemistry lab scale. We held fragile containers with an unknown white powder and had to identify the mystery powder using techniques like chromatography, distillation, and recrystallization. It was the most important lab of the year in organic chemistry. Suddenly the girl next
Study lends a proposed pathway to the previously reported association between PPI use and heart disease
The previously reported association between PPI use and heart disease was just that…an association, not a cause and effect. Associations are the weakest form of science. However, researchers have found that long-term exposure to proton pump inhibitors led to faster aging of endothelial cells that line blood vessels by impairing the ability of the cells
