Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Gastroenterology for September 2015. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
More Support for High-Fiber, Mediterranean Diet
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Numerous studies have extolled the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. Now, research suggests the regimen may also increase levels of beneficial short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). The findings were published online Sept. 29 in Gut.
Early Precut Sphincterotomy Ups Primary Cannulation Rates
TUESDAY, Sept. 29, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Early use of precut sphincterotomy does not increase the risk of pancreatitis but does increase rates of primary cannulation during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), according to research published in the October issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Ebselen Shows Potential for Drug-Resistant Clostridium difficile
THURSDAY, Sept. 24, 2015 (HealthDay News) — An experimental study suggests that ebselen might be a new weapon in the fight against Clostridium difficile. The research, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, was published in the Sept. 23 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
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Health Insurance Deductibles Rising Faster Than Wages
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 23, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Health insurance deductibles have risen more than six times faster than American workers’ average wages since 2010, a Kaiser Family Foundation report says.
FDA Approves Lonsurf for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 23, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The combination pill Lonsurf (trifluridine and tipiracil) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat metastatic colorectal cancer in patients who aren’t responding to other treatments, the agency said Tuesday in a news release.
IOM: Most U.S. Patients Will Experience Diagnostic Error
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 23, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A new report commissioned by the U.S. government contends that most Americans will encounter at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with severe consequences for their physical and mental health.
Medical Schools Teaching Students About Costs of Care
TUESDAY, Sept. 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Many medical schools are integrating discussions of cost, value, and effectiveness into their curricula, according to Kaiser Health News.
Docs in Productivity Models Likely to Encounter Compensation Caps
MONDAY, Sept. 21, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Physicians, especially those working in a productivity model, need to understand compensation caps, which are set at a specific percentile of national pay based on surveys, according to a report in Medical Economics.
Rotavirus Gastroenteritis Almost Absent in FUT2 Nonsecretors
MONDAY, Sept. 21, 2015 (HealthDay News) — U.S. children with a genetic polymorphism affecting FUT2 secretor status appear to be protected from severe rotavirus gastroenteritis, according to a study published online Sept. 21 in JAMA Pediatrics.
Regorafenib Deemed Not Cost-Effective for Metastatic CRC
MONDAY, Sept. 21, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Given its high cost, regorafenib provides little added benefit as a third-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Cholecalciferol May Help Reduce BMD Loss After Bariatric Surgery
MONDAY, Sept. 21, 2015 (HealthDay News) — An intervention including cholecalciferol, protein supplementation, and physical exercise reduces bone mineral density loss after bariatric surgery, according to a study published online Sept. 9 in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
Volunteer Doctors Need to Check Liability Coverage
FRIDAY, Sept. 18, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Physicians who volunteer their medical expertise should consider their legal risks, according to an article published online Sept. 3 in Medical Economics.
2012 Office Visits 57% Higher for Women than Men, Ages 1864
FRIDAY, Sept. 18, 2015 (HealthDay News) — In 2012 there were an estimated 301 physician office visits per 100 persons, with higher rates for females and adults aged 65 years and older, according to a September data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
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Mid-Morning May Be Best Time for Workday Break
FRIDAY, Sept. 18, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Choosing preferred activities for a work break and taking a break earlier in the shift are linked to more resource recovery after a break, according to a study published online Aug. 10 in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
EHR Triggers Cut Time to Diagnostic Cancer Evaluation
FRIDAY, Sept. 18, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Electronic health record-based triggers may cut time to diagnostic evaluation of colorectal and prostate cancer, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Oncology Care Often Received at Multiple Hospitals
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Many patients receive surgical and medical oncology care from different hospitals, which is associated with higher costs, according to a study published in the Sept. 15 issue of Cancer.
Risk of Colorectal Polyps Tied to Blood Pressure Medications
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Blood pressure medications may raise the risk of colorectal polyps, according to a study published online Sept. 10 in the Journal of Digestive Diseases.
Women Less Likely to Be Full Professors Than Men
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — In academic medicine, women are less likely to be full professors than men and have less startup funding than men, according to two studies published in the Sept. 15 issue of JAMA.
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Beta-Blockers Don’t Mar Acute Variceal Bleeding Prognosis
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — For cirrhotic patients with acute variceal bleeding (AVB), being on non-selective beta-blockers (NSBB) is not a negative prognostic factor for short-term survival, according to a study published online Sept. 4 in Hepatology.
H. pylori Linked to Increased Odds of Laryngeal Carcinoma
TUESDAY, Sept. 15, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is associated with significantly increased odds of laryngeal carcinoma but not pharyngeal cancer, according to a review published online Aug. 28 in Head & Neck.
miRNA-506 Affects Metastasis, Angiogenesis in Gastric Cancer
TUESDAY, Sept. 15, 2015 (HealthDay News) — MiRNA-506 (miR-506) is involved in gastric cancer, inhibiting the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and suppressing angiogenesis, according to a study published online Sept. 8 in The American Journal of Pathology.
FDA Announces New Steps to Improve Food Safety in U.S.
FRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced new steps Thursday to improve the cleanliness of food manufacturing plants in the wake of a string of foodborne illness outbreaks.
Gut Microbiome May Play Role in BMI, HDL Cholesterol Levels
FRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Intestinal microbiomes might help determine not only body fat levels, but also blood concentrations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglycerides, according to a study published online Sept. 10 in Circulation Research.
Drug-Eluting Chemoembolization No Better for Hepatocellular CA
FRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2015 (HealthDay News) — For patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, treatment with conventional chemoembolization is associated with improved outcomes versus drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization, according to a study published online Sept. 2 in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
For Pharma Reps, Access to Physicians Continuing to Drop
FRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Physician access for pharmaceutical representatives is continuing to decline, with access restricted to some degree for more than half of physicians, according to an AccessMonitor survey published by ZS.
CDC: Second Death Reported in Salmonella Outbreak
THURSDAY, Sept. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A second death has been reported in a Salmonella outbreak that has been linked to contaminated cucumbers and caused 341 illnesses in 30 states, U.S. health officials said Wednesday.
4% Increase in Population of Actively Licensed Physicians
THURSDAY, Sept. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The total population of actively licensed physicians in the United States and the District of Columbia has increased by 4 percent since 2012, according to a report published in the Journal of Medical Regulation.
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Physician Re-Entry Program Set to Redress Physician Shortage
THURSDAY, Sept. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — An online educational program aims to help physicians get back to work and reduce the nation’s physician shortage, according to an article published by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
Elevated Liver Enzymes Common in Severe Anorexia Nervosa
THURSDAY, Sept. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — For adults with severe anorexia nervosa (AN), elevated liver enzymes are relatively common and are associated with lower body mass index (BMI) and hypoglycemia, according to research published online Sept. 8 in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
Management, Treatment of Chronic Disease Up With ACA
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) — More Americans are getting health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act, which may lead to many more people getting diagnosed and treated for chronic conditions, such as diabetes, a new study contends. The findings were published in the September issue of Health Affairs.
Accelerated MD Program Doesn’t Mar Academic Performance
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) — An accelerated baccalaureate (BA)/doctor of medicine (MD) program does not impair the academic performance of medical students, according to a study published online July 3 in Academic Medicine.
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‘White Diets’ Don’t Adversely Affect Colonoscopy Preparation
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A diet of low-residue white foods the day before outpatient colonoscopies is preferred by patients over clear-fluid diets and does not negatively impact bowel preparation success or colonoscopy performance, according to a study published online Aug. 6 in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
ACP Supports Expanded Role of Telemedicine for Health Care
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Telemedicine can be beneficial, within the framework of an established physician-patient relationship, according to a position paper published online Sept. 8 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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EHR Vendors Not Adhering to Usability Certification Standards
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Among electronic health record (EHR) products, there is a lack of adherence to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) standards, according to a research letter published in the Sept. 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Reference Payment Reduces Spending on Colonoscopy
TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Implementation of reference payment for colonoscopy can reduce spending with no significant impact on complications, according to a study published online Sept. 8 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Dual-Modality DRS-FS Discerns Tumor From Surrounding Tissue
TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Dual-modality diffuse reflectance spectroscopy-fluorescence spectroscopy (DRS-FS) can differentiate tumor tissue from surrounding tissue in patients undergoing colorectal cancer resection, according to a study published in the September issue of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.
Bariatric Surgery Beats Drug Tx for Metabolic Outcomes in T2DM
FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Regardless of weight loss, patients with type 2 diabetes who undergo bariatric surgery have better metabolic outcomes than patients treated with drug therapy, according to a study published in the Sept. 5 issue of The Lancet.
Social Distress ID’d in Minority of Colorectal Cancer Survivors
FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — A minority of colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors experience social distress (SD), and having multiple long-term conditions is the strongest predictor, according to a study published online Aug. 17 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Scope of Lymphadenectomy Not Tied to Esophageal CA Survival
FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — For patients undergoing esophageal cancer surgery, the extent of lymphadenectomy seems not to influence all-cause or disease-specific survival, according to a study published online Sept. 2 in JAMA Surgery.
Irreversible Electroporation Promising in Pancreatic Cancer
FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Irreversible electroporation (IRE) in pancreatic cancer cells may improve survival rates for some patients, new research suggests. The findings were published in the September issue of the Annals of Surgery.
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Suggested Response Provided for In-Flight Medical Emergencies
FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — In a review article published online Sept. 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine, guidance is offered for physicians providing emergency in-flight medical care.
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Endoscopic Evaluation Advised in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2015 (HealthDay News) — For elderly adults diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, endoscopic evaluation may be recommended even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms, according to a letter to the editor published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
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