Introduction Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare, chronic, and progressive cholestatic disease involving intra- and/or extrahepatic bile ducts. PSC in many patients results in end-stage liver diseases. Nearly 60% of the PSC patients suffer from concomitant inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). Classically, IBDs are divided into two principle types: Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). However, with growing knowledge, PSC-associated IBD (PSC-IBD) seems to be a rather distinct entity with specific genetics, clinical, and microbiota characteristics.
Author: Praveen Suthrum
Affordability. Value. Accessibility. These issues are driving health systems to change more quickly than ever. But what is needed to better align health care with consumer expectations? We discuss this and much more with Dr. Paul Keckley, an independent healthcare advisor that participated as a facilitator for the Affordable Care Act.
Forty-eight percent of gastroenterologists reported being burned out, according to Medscape’s 2021 “Physician Burnout & Depression Report” released Jan. 21. For the report, Medscape surveyed 13,069 physicians in 29 specialties from June 29 to Sept. 26, 2021. Three more stats to know: 1. Out of all the work settings, physicians working in an outpatient setting were the most burned out — 58 percent.
In a recent review published in the journal of Nature Medicine, scientists discussed the results of a two-year weekly effort to track and communicate significant developments in medical (artificial intelligence) AI. They included prospective studies as well as developments in medical image analysis that have narrowed the gap between research and implementation. They also discuss non-image data sources, innovative issue formulations, and human-AI collaboration as prospective pathways for novel medical AI research.
Modern efforts to monitor and improve quality in health care can trace their roots to the early 20th century. At that time, hospitals initiated mechanisms to ensure standard practices for privileging clinicians, reporting medical records and clinical data, and establishing supervised diagnostic facilities. Years later, Avedis Donabedian published “Evaluating the Quality of Medical Care,” which outlined how health care should be measured across three areas – structure, process, and outcome – and became a foundational rubric for assessing quality in medicine.
An over-the-scope clip combined with submucosal injection resulted in a lower incidence of nonvariceal rebleeding compared with through-the-scope clips, researchers in Germany have found. Over-the-scope clips are used as second-line therapy for patients with recurrent peptic ulcer bleeding but are increasingly used to treat cases of severe nonvariceal upper GI bleeding, said Benjamin Meier, MD, of the Department of Gastroenterology at the Klinikum Ludwigsburg, in Germany. Based on the new results, Dr. Meier said over-the-scope clips should become part of first-line therapy for these high-risk patients.
It’s currently estimated that 50 percent of IBD patients experience some form of joint stiffness, otherwise known as arthralgia. With so many patients being affected, how can you determine if it’s inflammatory or noninflammatory arthralgia and treat it appropriately? To find out, Dr. Neil Nandi speaks with Dr. Monica Schwartzman, assistant attending physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery and Clinical Instructor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Together, they’ll discuss the screening tools gastroenterologists can use to differentiate the types of arthralgia in their patients as well as key management approaches.
Alterations to the composition of the gut microbiome were found in patients with long-term complications of COVID-19, according to study results published in Gut. “[Altered] gut microbiome composition is strongly associated with persistent symptoms in patients with COVID-19 up to 6 months after clearance of SARS-CoV-2 virus,” Qin Liu, PhD, from the Center for Gut Microbiota Research at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and colleagues wrote. “Considering the millions of people infected during the ongoing pandemic, our findings are a strong impetus for consideration of microbiota modulation to facilitate timely recovery and reduce the burden of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome.”
In a Healio video exclusive, John Inadomi, MD, president of the American Gastroenterological Association, outlined the Biden administration’s new guidance requiring private insurers to cover the cost of follow-up colonoscopy. The updated guidelines apply to colonoscopy needed as a follow-up to non-invasive colorectal cancer screening tests and aim to prevent patients from receiving surprise bills after a positive result from a stool-based test.
Background: Individual hypnotherapy (IH) is a recognised treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, it is not widely available to patients due to its resource-intensive nature, lack of adequately trained therapists, and scepticism about hypnosis. Non-individualised hypnotherapy approaches, such as group and self-help hypnotherapy, could maximise existing therapist resources by treating more patients at the same time, thus widening patient access to treatment without incurring additional expenditure.