Unlike in the rest of the country, where intestinal ultrasound rarely is used in the clinic, in New York City, gastroenterologists at Mount Sinai Hospital have made IUS findings the “the fifth vital sign” for inflammatory bowel disease patient care, particularly to monitor disease. Now, new research from the institution and other centers is showing that the tool can identify patients with endoscopic recurrence and possibly predict disease outcomes and treatment response.
Author: Praveen Suthrum
Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2022 is almost here! We’re excited to connect with the global digestive disease community in person and virtually. Here are a few key reminders so you can make the most of your meeting experience.
Nearly three in four doctors now work for a hospital, health system, or corporate entity, according to new data from Avalere. That’s a 7% increase from a year ago—and an almost 20% jump since 2019. In other words, the independent physician is becoming an endangered species. The corporatization of medicine is sapping competition in the healthcare marketplace. And that’s leading to higher prices for patients—and lower pay for providers.
In this edition of “Just a Phase,” we look at a phase 2 trial of vonoprazan as a therapy for nonerosive gastroesophageal reflux disease. The double-blind study looked at the effects of daily dosages on symptoms, and whether the drug could provide on-demand release at three different doses compared with placebo. A potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB), vonoprazan (Phathom) is used in Japan but is not approved in the United States.
Digital health companies (DHCs) and their solutions continue to grow at a rapid pace. This is in part being fueled by the record funding for DHCs, with over $29 billion for US-based companies in 2021 alone. As a result, patients are inundated with solutions from every direction – from employers, health plans, and directly through consumer-oriented apps and wearables. Physicians are also getting into the mix by directly prescribing digital therapeutics.
Philadelphia, May 10, 2022 – Using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that emulates how humans visualize and is trained to recognize and classify images, investigators constructed a model that predicts the postoperative recurrence of Crohn disease with high accuracy by evaluating histological images. The AI tool also revealed previously unrecognized differences in adipose cells and significant differences in the extent of mast cell infiltration in the subserosa, or outer lining of the intestine, comparing patients with and without disease recurrence. The findings appear in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier.
Here are 10 physicians to know who specialize in gastroenterology: Note: This is not an exhaustive list. Physicians are listed in alphabetical order. To nominate a physician for future lists, please contact Riz Hatton at rhatton@beckershealthcare.com. Andrew Albert, MD. Chicago Gastro. Dr. Albert is a clinical assistant professor of medicine in the digestive diseases and nutrition department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also has advanced training in inflammatory bowel disease.
Periodontitis appears to mark a worsening in the gut in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, according to a study presented at the 2022 meeting of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation. Both periodontitis and IBD are marked by dysbiotic microbiota and inflammation, according to lead author Johan Burisch, MD, PhD, a clinical epidemiologist at Hvidovre Hospital, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Given that the mouth is part of the gastrointestinal tract, the connection between the two diseases, while poorly understood, isn’t surprising, he said.
Latha Alaparthi, MD, gastroenterologist at Gastroenterology Center of Connecticut, was recently named the first first female president and chair of the board of directors of the Digestive Health Physicians Association, and will be speaking at the Women in GI Luncheon at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2022. DDW 2022 will be held virtually and in San Diego, California, from May 21 to 24.
This is episode 2 of 6 from our new program: Obesity in GI Care: Start the Conversation, Change the Narrative. Over the course of 6 podcast episodes and 3 webinars, you’ll learn a comprehensive approach to diagnosing and treating obesity, with a specific focus on patients with GI comorbidities. This series highlights key findings and strategies from AGA’s 2017 Practice guide on Obesity and Weight management, Education and Resources (POWER program).In this episode, our hosts Drs. Andres Acosta and Octavia Pickett-Blakely are joined by Dr. Colleen Tewksbury to discuss: A deep dive into dietary approaches for obesity management including debating…